The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath (1932-63) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and studied at Smith College. In 1955 she went to Cambridge University on a Fulbright scholarship, where she met and later married Ted Hughes. She published one collection of poems in her lifetime, The Colossus (1960), and a novel, The Bell Jar (1963). Her Collected Poems, which contains her poetry written from 1956 until her death, was published in 1981 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.

'A modern classic.' Guardian

'A near-perfect work of art.' Joyce Carol Oates

Sylvia Plath is a major cultural icon who continues to inspire new generations of female readers. The Bell Jar is one of the defining novels of the 20th century.

I was supposed to be having the time of my life . . .

Working as an intern for a New York fashion magazine in the summer of 1953, Esther Greenwood is on the brink of her future. Yet she is also on the edge of a darkness that makes her world increasingly unreal. Esther's vision of the world shimmers and shifts: day-to-day living in the sultry city, her crazed men-friends, the hot dinner dances . . .

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath's only novel, is partially based on Plath's own life. It has been celebrated for its darkly funny and razor sharp portrait of 1950s society, and has sold millions of copies worldwide.

ONE OF THE BBC'S '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD'

'As clear and readable as it is witty and disturbing.' New York Times Book Review

Reader responses:

'Very readable, often darkly funny, and feels fresh.'

'Plath's masterpiece . . . It's amazing how relevant this book still is.'

'So enthralling . . . So thought provoking, so vivid, that it's thoroughly engrossing.'

'I just couldn't put it down.'

'Ever better than I expected.'

'Plath's underrated humour shines through this startling account of 1950s 'normality'.'

Sylvia Plath is a major cultural icon who continues to inspire new generations of female readers. The Bell Jar is one of the defining novels of the 20th century.

Sylvia Plath's groundbreaking semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, offers an intimate, honest and often wrenching glimpse into mental illness in 1950s America.