Struggling with the demands of young children and a writing career, Swedish author Elin Cullhed became obsessed by the life of poet and author Sylvia Plath. Plath famously tried to carve out time for her writing as she dealt with the competing demands of two children, her husband Ted Hughes’ need to write, and her worsening depression and self-doubt. In this work of fiction, Culhed has created a compelling portrait of Plath in the last year of her life.

The novel starts ominously with a chapter titled ‘7 Reasons Not to Die’. The date of this fictional list is two months prior to Plath’s death. Cullhed has done an extraordinary amount of research on Plath’s life, but the novel doesn’t read like biography. Told from the perspective of Plath, the language is poetic and Culhed has replicated the cadence of Plath’s poetry.

Predictably, being in the headspace of Plath leading up to her suicide is unpleasant. Her emotions swing wildly, and her interactions with others suffer. Feeling isolated living in countryside England, she invites guests to stay: friends, fellow writers and her mother Aurelia. But as these visits approach she becomes fearful, and her interactions become unwieldy and rude, making the guests uncomfortable. Aurelia goes to stay elsewhere in the village.

Many people are fascinated by the relationship between Sylvia and Ted. In Culhed’s novel, Sylvia is possessive and jealous; Ted is cruel. She suspects, rightly, he is having an affair. When his lover calls the house disguising her voice, Sylvia pulls the phone from the wall. When they are together, their passion overrides everything else. However, when they are apart, she pines for him and imagines what he is doing with other women. When he moves out, she swings between feelings of loneliness and uncontrollable anger.

Readers who want more details of Plath’s last year won’t find it in Culhed’s novel, but what they will find is a poetic and passionate reimagining of a sad and brief life.

Annie Condon is from Readings Hawthorn