THE BELL JAR

The title of this iconic novel by the poet Sylvia Plath, who ultimately died a suicide, refers to the claustrophic depression that overcomes her protagonist, Esther Greenwood, one summer during her college years. Maggie Gyllenhaal must create the voice of a young woman who feels utterly cut off from the colors and warmth of the world, imprisoned under a glass dome, but somehow connect with the reader while doing it. She pulls it off beautifully, giving Esther a sympathetic quality that the reader can feel, even when Esther cannot. Plath thought of this book as a potboiler, but it is better than that, full of acute observation and sorry truth, especially in this fine version. B.G. 2004 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 04]