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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Categories
Biography, Literature & Literary studies

THE LAST CONFESSIONS OF SYLVIA P.

Lee Kravetz

A Novel of Sylvia Plath

A seductive literary mystery and mutigenerational story inspired by true events, The Last Con- fessions of Sylvia P. imaginatively brings into focus the period of promise and tragedy that marked the writing of Sylvia Plath's modern classic The Bell Jar. Lee Kravetz uses a prismatic narrative formed from three distinct fictional perspectives to bring Plath to life - that of her psychiatrist, a malicious rival poet, and years later, a curator of antiquities.

Estee, a seasoned curator for a small Massachusetts auction house, makes an astonishing find: the original manuscript of Sylvia Plath's semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, written by hand in her journals fifty-five years earlier. Vetting the document, Estee will discover she's connected to Plath's legacy in an unexpected way. Plath's psychiatrist, Dr. Ruth Barnhouse, treats Plath during the dark days she spends at McLean Hospital following a suicide attempt, and eventually helps set the talented poet and writer on a path toward literary greatness. Poet Boston Rhodes, a malicious literary rival, pushes Path to write about her experiences at McLean, tipping her into a fatal spiral of madness and ultimately forging her legacy. Like Michael Cunningham's The Hours, Paula McLain's The Paris Wife, and Theresa Anne Fowler's Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, The Last Confessions of Sylvia P. bridges fact and fiction to imagine the life of a revered writer. Suspenseful and beautifully written, Kravetz's masterful literary novel is a hugely appealing read. Lee Kravetz teaches fiction and nonfiction at San Francisco Writers' Grotto, has lectured at Stanford University's Wallace Stenger Fellowship Program and UC Berkeley's Creative Writing Program, and is cofounder of the Lit Camp Writers Conference with collaborators Jonathan Lethem, Adam Johnson, Andrew Sean Greer, Paul Harding and Janis Cooke Newman. The author of two nonfiction books, Lee has also written for print and TV outlets including The New York Times, New York Magazine and The Atlantic,. Lee has a master's degree in Counseling Psychology, has held positions at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, The National Center for PTSD, and Stanford University Hospital.

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Book Published 2022-03-08 by HarperCollins Young Readers - New York (USA)

Comments

An elegantly written novel for lovers of poetry and literary history. Read more...

It would be easy, too easy perhaps, to see TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCE as a spiritual sequel to Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, but Lee Kravetz's novel is very much its own thing, an audacious imagining that will have readers greedy to learn more about Plath and her literary cohort.

...an engrossing fiction debut... Kravetz brings both authority and empathy to his depictions of mental illness. He also reveals himself to be a fine novelist Read more...

With multiple narratives from the present and into the past, we get a glimpse into what Sylvia -- the woman, the patient -- was like and how her confessional poetry ended up starting a movement rippling into songwriting, memoirs and all pop culture today. Read more...

Here's a fun book trailer to fan the flames Read more...

A vivid portrait of mid-century America, particularly located in the Seven-Sisters-matching-bag-and-shoes class of women who seem to have everything but find themselves suffocatingly unfulfilled nevertheless. By playing with the real and the invented, Lee Kravetz creates a juicy, propulsive tale of artistic jealousy, fame, and psychology.

TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCE is a compulsive read about the places literature takes us, the ways it connects us and, if we're not careful, how it consumes us. The novel achieves originality, wonder, pathos, heart and, yes, poetry.

Lee Kravetz has created a bit of a miracle, a plot-driven literary puzzle box whose mystery lives in both its winding approach to history and its wonderous story. It's a book full of ideas about inspiration and a love for language that translates across borders, physical and generational.

TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCE is a page-turning joy full of surprise, mystery, and suspense. Notify all book groups!

Italian: Fazi Editore

Barnes & Noble has picked The Last Confessions of Sylvia P as one of the most buzzed about debuts of 2022!