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Letters of Sylvia Plath Serialized

The Daily Mail of London bought the rights to serialize The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume II: 1956-1963 (Faber, published 6 September 2018).

On Saturday, 25 August 2018, they ran the first of the serials which was an edited down version of Frieda Hughes' long, considerate, and moving Foreword to the book: "Sylvia Plath's letters from the brink".

Excerpts from many letters were selected to be printed over three days. These paint their own small narrative but naturally are not completely representative of the content(s) of the full letters from which they were taken or the general tone of the book itself.

The first excerpt appeared online on Sunday the 26th and in print on 27 August 2018. The online headline: "'I want to kill this bloody girl to whom my misery is just sauce': Newly uncovered letters from SYLVIA PLATH reveal the moment her husband Ted Hughes’s mistress called her – bringing their marriage to a shattering end."

The second excerpt appeared online on Monday the 27th and in print on 28 August 2018. The online headline: "'I still love Ted — the knowledge I am ugly to him now just kills me': Newly discovered letters by Sylvia Plath reveal her heartbreak at the monstrous betrayal by Ted Hughes."

The third excerpt appeared online on Tuesday the 28th and in print on 29 August 2018. The online headline: "'Having been so very happy makes this harder than if I'd never known love at all': Sylvia Plath's joy and torment laid bare in the last letters she ever wrote."

HarperCollins will publish The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume 2: 1956-1963 on 30 October 2018.

All links accessed 25 August 2018.
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  1. Eva Stenskar29 August, 2018 15:03

    Oh gosh - these letters to Beuscher! How I wish I could've had her over for a cup of tea then.

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