This book is the biography of Assia Wevill, the woman that Ted Hughes was having an affair with at the time that Sylvia Plath killed herself. This book paints Assia out to be a complicated woman, who seems to have self worth issues, severe self-worth issues. It claims she was haunted by Plath's shadow and constantly tried to fit into the role of wife/mother let vacant with Plath's death. Interestingly enough, the book doesn't slander Plath, possibly Hughes. The biographers certainly claim that Hughes is as abusive to Assia as he was to Sylvia. And while they do not directly claim that Hughes is responsible for Assia's death, there is no denying this fact either. I found this book to be a very interesting read.

This book was such a surprise to me, as I figured it would be another half-baked attempt to cash in on the Hughes-Plath story. What a shocker! I found myself running the gamut of emotions, from shock and dismay to utter sympathy and understanding. The book really IS about Assia Wevill, and she was a layered and fascinating woman of her time. Her journey from her childhood in Nazi Germany to Israel and eventually to England is recorded in a mesmerizing way by the authors.

Interesting, if you're fascinated by the Plath/Hughes story, but also unfortunately riddled with typos and, in many cases, statements presented as fact with no evidence to back them up. Or hearsay. Not the strongest biography I've ever read, although an intriguing topic.

So, this was THE literary love triangle of the 60s, and the book was worth reading to find out more about Assia. Ted is not painted in a very favorable light in this book, and the whole time I am thinking, "good lord, woman, just leave him already!" If you are a Sylvia or Ted fan, you should read this book to find out more about the "other woman" in their lives.

One of the best biographies I have ever read. I found it especially refreshing that the authors don't hide (why should they?) their profound sympathy and compassion for Assia, and yet never sugarcoat her shortcomings and flaws, of which she had many. They don't sugarcoat Ted or Sylvia either, but they clearly do not adhere to the "Ted Hughes is a murderer" or "Sylvia Plath is a cold-hearted bitch" schools - also refreshing. More than her later life in England, I especially liked the account of Assia's teenage years in Israel in the 1940's: a combination of place and time of which I knew nothing before reading this book.

Highly recommended. In the end, these words spoken by Assia's father stuck with me the most: "I can't understand it. People were killed in Bergen Belsen, and here's a woman who kills herself because of her love for a man." There's so much in that sentence, and so much missing from it. It's almost the whole 20th century right there.