Pain, Parties, Work

March 4, 2013
Marking the 50th anniversary of Plath’s death, poet Winder, in her nonfiction debut, sets out to reveal a lesser-known side of the iconic poet/novelist, paradoxically by chronicling one of the best-known periods in her life. The summer Plath spent as an intern at Mademoiselle magazine’s Manhattan offices, which inspired The Bell Jar, provides the heady context for Winder’s case that Plath was more than the “tortured artist” who committed suicide at age 30. Instead, Winder presents a woman who was an active participant in her midcentury cultural moment and pre–Feminine Mystique peer group. Extensive quotations from Plath’s fellow Mademoiselle “guest editors” reveal a fiercely ambitious young writer and a high-pressure workplace. We also visit the Barbizon Hotel, Grace Kelly’s one-time residence and the interns’ home for the summer—a “debutante’s pretty flophouse.” The former interns’ words are complemented by a lovingly detailed inventory, as Technicolor-vivid as a Douglas Sirk film, of the fashions and foods that filled Plath’s summer. Winder convincingly shows that Plath should be recognized as much for her enjoyment of life and her enduring works as for her tragic death. Readers already familiar with the starkly unromantic facts of Plath’s biography may be thrown by the glamorous, nostalgic picture of the author given here. Agent: David Kuhn, Kuhn Projects.

April 1, 2013

February 11, 2013, marked the 50th anniversary of Sylvia Plath's death and a plethora of new Plath-related publications. Here, poet Winder focuses on May 1953, the month Plath spent in New York City as a guest editor at Mademoiselle. Winder contextualizes this brief, intense period as the basis for Plath's autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar. Her life that month was harried, filled with glitz and exhaustion, and may have contributed largely to Plath's subsequent breakdown and first suicide attempt. The book is loosely organized, contains extensive sidebars, and possesses a poetic sensibility. Although the tone and arrangement appear more artistic than academic, the volume isn't frivolous and is largely based on original interviews or correspondence with 15 of the other 19 "girls" who were, along with Plath, guest editors. VERDICT Winder poignantly captures a snapshot of a time that directly inspired one of Plath's most famous works. She also captures Plath as bright, vivacious, and even brittle. For fans, particularly devotees of The Bell Jar.--Audrey Snowden, Orrington P.L., ME

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