LOVE, SIVVY

This work of historical fiction in verse highlights Sylvia “Sivvy” Plath’s high school and college years.

The Bell Jar has long been considered semiautobiographical, and the parallels between this volume of poetry and Plath’s life are evident in this fictional account, which spans her junior year of high school in 1948 to her graduation from Smith College and departure for the University of Cambridge in 1955. Sivvy’s first-person narration captures the intensity of her emotional life. She’s determined to make a name for herself and denounces conventional expectations for women. Although she presents an image of vitality to the world, with an active social life and several publications in national magazines, beneath her sunny image, self-doubt and depression deplete her for days on end. Her mental health struggles come to a head in college, and after a traumatic series of shock treatments, Sivvy attempts suicide. She’s ultimately able to resume her studies, receiving a Fulbright Fellowship to study in England. The story concludes with Sivvy on board the Queen Elizabeth, sailing toward her hopeful future. The stream-of-consciousness narration immerses readers in Sivvy’s highs and lows.

Readers become confidants in this highly relatable portrayal of a complex life.