On Wednesday, January 25 at 6:30 PM, San Mateo County Libraries welcomes Bay Area local Lee Kravetz, author of the celebrated novel The Last Confessions of Sylvia P.
We are thrilled that Kravetz will join us to offer a reading, presentation and conversation. He'll discuss renowned writer Sylvia Plath, confessional poetry and his journey towards telling this story.
Once you've registered, you'll receive your Zoom invitation!
Sylvia Plath, Resonating Across Time
Deemed “engrossing” by Publishers Weekly and “an elegantly written novel for lovers of poetry and literary history” by Kirkus Reviews, The Last Confessions of Sylvia P. blends fact and fiction to explore the enduring relevance of poet Sylvia Plath and her sole novel, The Bell Jar.
The novel weaves together three time periods and three distinct narrators, each uniquely connected to Plath and her work: a former literary rival, a groundbreaking psychiatrist and a curator puzzling over a potentially valuable manuscript of Plath's The Bell Jar.
By giving voice to these three figures, Kravetz delves into fascinating questions of creative passion, mental illness and artistic legacy.
Get to Know Writer Lee Kravetz
In addition to The Last Confessions of Syliva P., Lee Kravetz is a journalist and author of two acclaimed non-fiction books: Strange Contagion: Inside the Surprising Science of Infectious Behaviors and Viral Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves and SuperSurvivors: the Surprising Link Between Suffering and Success.
He has written for print and television, including The New York Times, New York Magazine, Psychology Today, The Daily Beast, The San Francisco Chronicle and PBS. He lives in Berkeley with his wife and two children.
Praise for The Last Confessions of Sylvia P.
"Bold, compelling and gorgeously written, The Last Confessions of Sylvia P. is slightly reminiscent of AS Byatt's Possession, but instead of a love story, this is a tale of rivalry and betrayal. A truly satisfying page-turner." —Karen Joy Fowler, Booker Prize Finalist for We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and author of The Jane Austen Book Club
“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.” —Adam Johnson, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Orphan Master's Son
"Where Kravetz really stirs up the magic is in his depictions of the interplay between madness and art; Plath’s gnawing loneliness and insecurity; and Rhodes’ ever-present quest for attention and recognition. . . . Kravetz makes good use of history’s rich material to spin a captivating story about some of the art world’s most notorious writers and thinkers." —San Francisco Chronicle
"The Last Confessions of Sylvia P.is a page-turning joy full of surprise, mystery, and suspense. Notify all book groups!" —Christina Clancy, author of The Second Home
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