This novel was recommended to me by a friend who is a literature teacher. It is a novel about a woman facing the pressures of life and going through a mental breakdown. It is beautifully written and haunting; at times very dark and at times quite funny.
Because the novel is written in the first person, the dark moments are disturbing. It is an excellent look at what madness truly is. The descriptions, the things the main character (Esther Greenwood) sees, the intense detail here and lack of detail there. This is not an uplifting novel. Added to its disturbing nature is the fact that the novel is semi-autobiographical. The author wrote this novel by fictionalizing her own life and the people in it. The history behind the novel is as interesting as the novel itself. The novel could not be published until the author's mother died. (The Harper Perennial publication has a forward that describes the publishing process for the book, and a "biographical note" at the end regarding Sylvia Plath's life.)
Definitely worth reading. Don't be fooled by its small size. This novel took me a while to finish. Partly because of the time of year - being Christmas time with not much time to read, and partly because of it's intense nature.
Happy reading!
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