Book Review: Lover of Unreason by Yehuda Koren and Eliat Negev - Page 3

I have seen a rather silly photograph of Sylvia Plath gazing into a crystal ball, as if her psychic powers were beginning to bud along with her poetic ones. I wonder how it might have been for Sylvia, had she been able to see the future after her death, to know that Assia Wevill, the mistress she despised, would literally live in Plath’s London flat, sleep in Plath’s bed (and make love with Hughes there), read her journals freely, use her clothing and household utensils, even ransack dresser drawers at Court Green for Plath’s hair ribbons and combs. Lover of Unreason skillfully highlights how Assia literally wallowed in Plath’s life, probably at great cost to her own emotional well-being. This may have been a bit inevitable, as Hughes moved into Plath’s flat to give his children some security and not uproot them, but I found it odd that they didn’t eventually refurbish the flat to make it their own.

One of the strengths of this book is the description of how heartbreakingly sad life must have been for Assia. Hughes was unable to really commit to a relationship, so she and her daughter lived only sporadically with him, first in a remote, rented house in Ireland, and then at Court Green (along with Hughes’ parents; his father snubbed Assia and wouldn’t even look at her when she entered a room). Despite the fact that he was the father of their daughter, Hughes did not support Assia financially; the small amounts of money he gave her were meticulously recorded loans that had to be paid back quickly.

Assia’s relationship with Hughes seemed chaotic overall, and, though he loved Shura, Assia must have been deeply and painfully aware that her daughter would never gain the same status in Hughes’ mind as his son and daughter by Plath. A disturbing incident, described by Fay Weldon (Assia’s friend and colleague) describes Hughes giving Shura, still a very small child, wine to drink and then laughing as the child became intoxicated and danced around wildly until she fell asleep — something Weldon observed he would never do with his other children. Lover of Unreason also discusses the idea that Hughes could not really let go of Plath and accept Assia’s unique differences; he drafted a list of somewhat daunting house rules at one point which commanded Assia to be out of bed by eight, bake her own bread, put more variety in her cooking, and introduce a new recipe each week, tasks Plath had once pulled off with verve and accomplishment.  There seemed to be no rules in this "draft constitution" for Hughes to follow.

Article Author: Ms. Strega

Author of the (still being birthed) book on my Italian-American family, The Strega's Story. Numerous poems published in such magazines as Poetry, ONTHEBUS, Saranac Review, Chattahoochee Review, Oyez Review, and Quarry West. …

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