BOOK GROUP:

This month we read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

August had its effect on our group, reducing us to six. Two of us had read ‘The Bell Jar’ in our 20s and felt that our life experience since then meant that we appreciated it entirely differently; one of us wished she had read it at 17 as it might have prevented some of the mistakes of her 20s; another had tried it in the past and thought she wouldn’t even open it this time around, only to find that she really enjoyed it. We all admired the beauty and economy of the writing, connected with the characters and appreciated the way Sylvia Plath illuminated mental health issues. Although a couple of us didn’t enjoy reading it, they were still glad that they had.

The novel is semi-autobiographical which can overshadow readers’ perceptions of it. Academics have diagnosed bipolar/borderline personality disorder/ autism/ADHD but we felt that the novel should be judged in its own right – and were sad that Plath's early death meant that she did not write another.