I wanted to love it- I thought Esther’s character was very interesting and I loved the stream of consciousness. The opening location of New York set the book nicely and Plath’s descriptions of the girls’ lives managed to express the glamour of the city alongside Esther’s spiralling mental health.

Unfortunately, similar to when I read Great Gatsby, I think any symbolism completely passed me by. So for me, it was an average read where I spent the whole story waiting for an explanation of what was going on.