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A new edition of the classic novel, featuring a foreword by the original Harper & Row editor who reveals the untold story of the book''s first publication. Originally published under a pseudonym in England in 1963, shortly after Plath committed suicide, the book was published for the first time under Plath''s real name by Harper & Row in 1971, despite the protests of the Plath family. This extraordinary work chronicles the crackup of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, successful-and slowly going under. Largely autobiographical, the novel reveals much about the sources of Plath''s own tragedy.
Summary
One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels
“A coming–of–age masterpiece.” —Boston Globe
"It is this perfectly wrought prose and the freshness of Plath's voice in The Bell Jar that make this book enduring in its appeal." —USA Today
A beautifully designed Harper Perennial Deluxe Edition of Sylvia Plath’s masterwork—an acclaimed and enduring novel about a young woman falling into the grip of mental illness and societal pressures
The story chronicles the breakdown of Esther Greenwood, a bright, beautiful, enormously talented college student coming of age in 1950s America, as she navigates the pressures of society along with her own ambitions. While at a prestigious, competitively won position at a New York City magazine one summer, Esther finds herself struggling with the looming expectations of marriage, motherhood, and giving up on her dreams to achieve them. She becomes increasingly disillusioned and her mental health deteriorates, ultimately leading her to undergo harsh treatment and therapy.
"Funny, intense, enormously human" (Cosmopolitan), The Bell Jar is a poignant exploration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche and remains an extraordinary accomplishment from one of the country's most luminous talents.
