A review by lola425
Pain, Parties, Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953 by Elizabeth Winder

4.0

This is the third Plath bio I've read this year, and it was by far my favorite. Winder concentrates on the Mademoiselle magazine summer, the events and experiences that led directly to the writing of The Bell Jar. Even if didn't feature Plath, the book would have been fascinating. Fashion, social mores, relationships between men and women are touched upon. It is interesting to see how post-war, pre-feminist society helped make (and in some cases unmake) a young woman of that era, particularly a young woman with talent and intelligence and a desire for more (all of which Sylvia was). As a reader you still had to deal with Plath's complexities and contradictions, but you saw her thourgh the eyes of the young women who spent that summer with her. And to be honest, it was nice not to have to think about Ted.