Title: The Bell Jar      

Author: Sylvia Plath

Genre: Classic Literature      

Publisher: Arcturus Publishing    

Format: Paperback

Pages: 224

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

From the back of the book:

“Aspiring poet Esther Greenwood has everything going for her, apart from a dark cloud of mental illness which hangs over her. She gains a dream internship at a major New York magazine in the 1950s, but her struggle with depression ricochets her back to Massachusetts. Sent to a psychiatrist by her mother, Esther finds herself on an irreversible path to hospitalization.”

Review:

I’m so happy I finally read this important piece of literature! I’ve heard so many things about this book, and I feel like it is on every must read book list, so I’m glad I can finally cross this one off!

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The story revolves around Esther and her gradual mental health breakdown. This book is considered to be part autobiographical as the author herself suffered with mental health issues as well. Esther is a young woman in New York working for a magazine and she wants to become a writer but finds that she is not finding joy in her work. She is also struggling with her connections to her friends, as well as to her boyfriend. Esther goes on to experience medical assistance that was considered appropriate for the time, such as electro shock therapy. I thought the author did a really good job of explaining the mental health breakdown that Esther experienced, as well as she shock therapies, which isn’t easy to read! I also found it interesting as I was googling it after reading the book, that Surfacing by Margaret Atwood definitely has some connection to this book, which I thought was cool as I read this one after Surfacing! Bookish fate is what I call that!

Happy reading!