The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under -- maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies.

Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made "The Bell Jar" a haunting American classic.

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'A literary rite of passage.' The Times'Plath changed our world.' GuardianEsther is supposed to be having the time of her life. Her internship at a fashion magazine is a whirl of cocktail parties and dinner dates in the shimmering city. But why doesn't she feel anything? Back home in the suburbs, she is trapped inside a suffocating bell jar.

She can't write her novel; her boyfriend is a hypocrite; there seems no point in getting out of bed. As she spirals into darkness, her world becomes increasingly unreal ... An unflinchingly honest portrait of a young woman's breakdown, Sylvia Plath's iconic The Bell Jar has transformed the lives of millions of readers since it was first published in 1963.