Letters Home: Correspondence, 1950-1963

I love reading about Syliva Plath's life so if your a fan then this is definatley a book to add to your collection. It's a long read, not something you can just go through in a few days. This is a book you take your time with.

After reading The Bell Jar I wanted to know everything I could possibly know about Sylvia Plath. I'd never read an author's journal or letters before, and I loved it! (It was one of my top ten reads of 2008.) I love all the technology available to us today, but e-mail has certainly killed the magic of letters. This book has something like 1,000 letters from Sylvia, mostly to her mother. And yes, they are edited; and while at times you could certainly see Sylvia's mother making sure everybody knows she was a good mother, they are edited very well. The letters read like narrative, taking you through a really interesting life story. Anyone interested in Plath should make this a must read. Between this and The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, I found Letters Home to be much faster paced and overall engrossing. One day I may go back and read Letters Home and the journals simultaneously to see the differences in the letters vs. the journals during the same periods. I highly recommend this book. Whether you are a fan of Plath's or just interested in the pre-techology life of a student, lover, wife, mother, you can't help but be captivated.

Letter Home contains all of the letters that Sylvia wrote to her Mother, Warren and Mrs Prouty from 1950-1963 and span her university life, up to her marriage to Ted Hughes and beyond. The best thing about this book is the enthusiasm for study, success and a family that Plath shows in the letters. As a fan I often imagine her as a moody person like her poems sometimes suggests but Plath appears happy and full of life and love in each letter. I particularly enjoyed the letters from the time she met Ted and started a family with him as their plans and gaining success were so well deserved and interesting. Letters Home comes with an introduction by Plath's Mother who also adds a few bits of context throughout. I stopped reading after the birth of her second child as the letters became quite sad and as a fan I knew what was going to happen and didn't want to ruin the way the book showed a very happy side of Plath. I particularly liked the following passage that Plath wrote advising a boy suffering a breakdown similar to hers: `When he dies, his marks will not be written on his gravestone. If he loved a book, been kind to someone, enjoyed a certain colour in the sea - that is the thing that show whether he has lived.' I recommend this to all Plath fans.

This book gives an great insight into the mind of one the most incredible writers ever. All her thoughts and feelings are expressed so wonderfully. Even in her letters she keeps the same dry wit and rage that draws so many people to her. She was an incredible writer and this is just another example of her fine work.

Letters Home offers a great look at the unseen side of Plath--the side her mother was allowed into. Here, one can see the woman behind her works, and is allowed to travel with her during her scholastic years until her death. A very moving and personal view from in own words.