Your Story, My Story: A Novel

Description

From the award-winning author of The Friendship comes a shattering, brilliantly inventive novel based on the volatile true love story of literary icons Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. In 1963 Sylvia Plath took her own life in her London flat. Her death was the culmination of a brief, brilliant life lived in the shadow of clinical depression-a condition exacerbated by her tempestuous relationship with mercurial poet Ted Hughes. The ensuing years saw Plath rise to martyr status while Hughes was cast as the cause of her suicide, his infidelity at the heart of her demise. For decades, Hughes never bore witness to the truth of their marriage-one buried beneath a mudslide of apocryphal stories, gossip, sensationalism, and myth. Until now. In this mesmerising fictional work, Connie Palmen tells his side of the story, previously untold, delivered in Ted Hughes's own uncompromising voice. A brutal and lyrical confessional, Your Story, My Story paints an indelible picture of their seven-year relationship-the soaring highs and profound lows of star-crossed soul mates bedeviled by their personal demons. It will forever change the way we think about these two literary icons. 'Enthralling . . . Palmen's prose is beautiful and neither condemns nor exculpates Hughes. Palmen took on a tall order with this one, and does an admirable job of delivering.' - Publishers Weekly

Connie Palmen was born in Sint Odilienberg, the Netherlands, and studied literature and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. She is the author of The Laws, voted the European Novel of the Year and short-listed for the 1996 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; The Friendship, winner of the AKO Literature Prize; Lucifer; and the autobiographical novel I.M. Ms. Palmen currently lives in Amsterdam. For more information, please visit www.conniepalmen.nl.

"Connie Palmen's Your Story, My Story is a lacerating portrait of passion and genius, both of which are gifts that can arrive with mortality hidden in their folds. It does what only a novel can do-probes beneath the 'official' story to get to the dark and mysterious heart of the matter. It's a remarkable book." -Michael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours "Enthralling...Palmen's prose is beautiful and neither condemns nor exculpates Hughes. Palmen took on a tall order with this one, and does an admirable job of delivering." -Publishers Weekly "Brilliantly gives voice to Ted Hughes...Palmen brings incredible emotion and life to these two renowned poets and embodies Hughes fully. This confessional will challenge readers to see Ted Hughes and his story in a different light." -Booklist "Palmen cleverly asserts her talent, as she delves into a poetic narrative akin to Hughes's own voice as he tries to keep up with the quickly changing moods of his wife, who is every extreme of fury, wit, and passionate goddess all in one. Palmen takes us into Hughes's mind to see things from his perspective, playing devil's advocate, hoping to shed some light on his own personal truth and to show that there are always two sides to a story." -Paperback Paris