What is The Bell Jar about?

It follows Esther Greenwood, a young woman interning at a New York fashion magazine in the summer of 1953, as a darkness closes in and her world begins to feel unreal.

Is The Bell Jar based on a true story?

It is partially based on Sylvia Plath's own life, according to the publisher's blurb.

The Bell Jar

A darkly funny portrait of a young woman coming undone in 1950s America.

Reading guide

The Bell Jar is a standalone novel, so there is no order to follow. It is Plath's only novel, and it can be read on its own.

Esther Greenwood spends a summer in New York as an intern at a fashion magazine, moving through dinner dances, difficult relationships and the pressure to choose the right future. As a darkness grows, her sense of the world becomes increasingly unreal.

Description

In the summer of 1953, Esther Greenwood is interning at a New York fashion magazine and should be having the time of her life. There are dinner dances, exasperating men and a future that seems to be opening up, but a darkness is closing in and her world begins to feel strangely unreal.

Sylvia Plath's only novel draws partly on her own life. Readers often find it sharper and funnier than they expect, particularly in its portrait of the narrow expectations placed on young women in the 1950s. It remains clear, witty and unsettling, and it will speak to anyone who has ever felt out of step with the life they were supposed to want.

Books in this Series

The Bell Jar

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