Title: The Bell Jar

Author: Sylvia Plath

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 216

Rating: 5/5

This is one of those books that I’ve been meaning to read for years but which I never got round to. I’ve read Ariel, Plath’s poetry collection, but I eventually had to order a copy of this online after giving up hope of ever seeing it.

Plath’s writing is beautiful here, and she does a fantastic job of capturing the complex emotions that are going through her protagonist’s mind. It’s also interesting because it’s semi-autobiographical, and indeed it foreshadowed Plath’s own tragic end. If you have any interest at all in mental health and its portrayal in literature, this one is a must-read.

All in all, my voice is just yet another one that rings out in praise of The Bell Jar, but what can I say? When people say this is an excellent novel, they’re right. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up on my top books of the year list. I also liked that in the biographical note, it mentioned that the novel was described as like a feminist Catcher in the Rye. I can see that, and I think that if you like one then you’ll like the other.

Click here to buy The Bell Jar.