Ted Hughes

by Elaine Feinstein

"In this biography Elaine Feinstein for the first time tells the story of Hughes' life as he experienced it, rather than presenting him as a figure in the perception of others. Many people have held his adultery responsible for Plath's death, since it was her discovery of his affair with the glamorous Assia Wevill that led her to order Hughes out of their Devon home. Feinstein explores an altogether more complex situation, which includes Plath's fragility throughout the marriage and Hughes' own confused intentions in the last few weeks of her life. In the process, Feinstein throws new light on his relationship with Assia Wevill, in some ways as vulnerable a figure as Plath herself. Hughes later had a child with Assia, who also killed herself along with their young daughter.". "Drawing on extensive archive material and her own revealing analysis of Hughes' poems, as well as interviews with childhood friends, fellow undergraduates, poets and critics, Elaine Feinstein, who knew Hughes for