Red Comet

The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath

By: Heather Clark

Narrated by: Laura Jennings

Length: 45 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize Finalist

The highly anticipated biography of Sylvia Plath that focuses on her remarkable literary and intellectual achievements, while restoring the woman behind the long-held myths about her life and art.

“One of the most beautiful biographies I've ever read." (Glennon Doyle, author of number one New York Times best seller, Untamed)

With a wealth of never-before-accessed materials, Heather Clark brings to life the brilliant Sylvia Plath, who had precocious poetic ambition and was an accomplished published writer even before she became a star at Smith College. Refusing to read Plath’s work as if her every act was a harbinger of her tragic fate, Clark considers the sociopolitical context as she thoroughly explores Plath’s world: her early relationships and determination not to become a conventional woman and wife; her troubles with an unenlightened mental health industry; her Cambridge years and thunderclap meeting with Ted Hughes; and much more.

Clark’s clear-eyed portraits of Hughes, his lover Assia Wevill, and other demonized players in the arena of Plath’s suicide promote a deeper understanding of her final days. Along with illuminating readings of the poems themselves, Clark’s meticulous, compassionate research brings us closer than ever to the spirited woman and visionary artist who blazed a trail that still lights the way for women poets the world over.

©2020 Heather Clark (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A New York Times Top 10 Book of the Year • Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the LA Times Book Prize • A New York Times Notable Book • Named a Book of the Year: O, the Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Boston Globe, Literary Hub, The Times (London), The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and The Times of India • Winner of the Biographers' Club Slightly Foxed Prize for Best First Biography

“Mesmerizing . . . Comprehensive . . . Stuffed with heretofore untold anecdotes that illuminate or extend our understanding of Plath’s life . . . Clark is a felicitous writer and a discerning critic of Plath’s poetry . . . There is no denying the book’s intellectual power and, just as important, its sheer readability.” —The New York Times

“A majestic tome with the narrative propulsion of a thriller. We now have the complete story.” —O, The Oprah Magazine

“An exhaustively researched, frequently brilliant masterwork. . . . It is an impressive achievement representing a prizeworthy contribution to literary scholarship and biographical journalism.” —The Washington Post

An amazing, electric and tragic life

For decades I’ve heard the name of Sylvia Path invoked on the pages of the New York Times Book Review and its podcast, only to wonder who this woman really was. Obviously, a woman of great influence among other writers. When Heather Clark’s bio of Plath was published it was time to finally to resolve this personal mystery.

What an amazing and tragic life. This book is both inspiring and heartbreaking and, despite already knowing how Plath’s life ended, the tension of waiting hundreds of pages for the final event was spellbinding. I also came to know Ted Hughes, her estranged husband, and the most popular British poet at the time, who, like Plath, also suffered from the dark moods of depression, though to a far lesser degree.

Plath’s college years at Smith were so auspicious, as her poetic talent developed and men were draw to this tall, vivacious woman by the dozens. Plath became a prolific dater and learned to resent the sexual freedom afforded to men but denied to women. Eventually it is Ted Hughes who becomes the enduring love of her life, albeit a tempestuous pairing. Hughes’ voracious sexual appetite leads him astray, and Plath’s fury and pursuit of vengeance results in a flurry of her most electric poetry, as well as a novel (The Bell Jar) that still sells about 100,000 copies her year and has sold a total of nearly 4 million copies since its 1963 release.

What an honor it would have been to spend some weeks with Sylvia Plath, but this sprawling and detailed recounting of her life by Heather Clark is the next best thing.

Never a huge fan of poetry

Found this book so enlightening. Long but never mundane. What an incredible talented woman fighting to be true to herself but yet needing to conform to the manuscript of the times. Now to read her poetry which, I’m sure, will convert me.

Eh

The book is fine but the narration is pleading and desperate. It's very strange and depressing.

Engrossing book, narrator is totally fine, read it

Though I was somewhat familiar with Sylvia Plath's poetry, this is my first biography of her. After reading some of the Audible reviews I was nervous about the narrator, but she was absolutely fine. Good even. She allowed the content of the book to shine. I'm coming away from this biography with a long list of other books I want to read next: The Bell Jar, Ted Hugh's Birthday Letters, Robert Lowell's Life Studies, Anne Sexton. This book really illustrates Plath's devotion to her writing and the hard work that went into developing her unique voice and style. I feel like one of the undercurrents of this particular biography is that Plath was a brilliant poet not because of her depression but in spite of it. I'm so glad I read it.
"Sylvia Plath did not think of herself as a depressive. She considered herself strong, passionate, intelligent, determined, and brave, like a character in a D.H. Lawrence novel. She was tough-minded and filled her journal with exhortations to work harder--evidence, others have said, of her pathological, neurotic perfectionism. Another interpretation is that she was--like many male writers--simply ambitious, eager to make her mark on the world. She knew that depression was her greatest adversary...."

Well-written and well-researched

This a long, thorough,balanced, and interesting biography of Sylvia Plath. I found it fascinating.
I loved the reader’s voice, but she mispronounced a number of words during the 40 plus hour audiobook. Otherwise, no complaints.

One of the best biographies I’ve read

Don't let the length of 45 hours worry you; you’ll have trouble with pausing this story. The biography covers Sylvia Plath's life, starting with the history of her parents and continuing up until Ted's death. It shows not only Sylvia's life, but also how she was shaped by her predecessors and her impact after her death. This biography completely changed my perspective on Sylvia Plath, who is often depicted as a depressive genius who was a captive to her own mental illness. In reality, Sylvia was a vibrant, charismatic, and complex woman who embodied both consistency and contradiction. Even if you're not a fan of poetry or literature, you will get a lot out of listening to this definitive biography of one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Boy, Was That a Long Book!

Effective narrator has pleasing voice. Book is long on details. Author provides facts from several perspectives so that much contemplating is the responsibility of reader to try and figure out where Sylvia was coming from regarding her personality as well as how much of her behavior was affected by her mental illness.
Very sad she left small children behind, yet maddening that she was permitted to go through so much electro-shock therapy. (The poor girl's brain musta been fried. Literally.)
My favorite comment from end of book: "Art is a rearrangement of truth."

One of the most remarkable biographies ever

This is a remarkable and well researched biography about the total personhood, daughter, woman, scholar, poet, wife and mother who was Sylvia Plath.

This book stayed with me. Excellent listen!

I didn’t know what to expect with this book purchase, not knowing a lot about Sylvia Plath. I found it so interesting and sad. Although the book is really quite long, I didn’t want it to end. Makes me want to learn more about her and her work.

Sylvia Plath was a great loss.

She would’ve been a great President, but her artistic sensibility probably would have gotten in the way, which is unfortunate. The most passionate, creative women do not usually choose politics as a field of endeavor. This is our ongoing loss as a civilization.