{"product_id":"mary-ventura-and-the-ninth-kingdom-a-story-9780062940834","title":"Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom: A Story","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"[Plath's] story is stirring, in sneaky, unexpected ways. . . . Look carefully and there's a new angle here -- on how, and why, we read Plath today.\"-- Parul Sehgal, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNever before published, this newly discovered story by literary legend Sylvia Plath stands on its own and is remarkable for its symbolic, allegorical approach to a young woman's rebellion against convention and forceful taking control of her own life. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten while Sylvia Plath was a student at Smith College in 1952, \u003cem\u003eMary Ventura and The Ninth Kingdom\u003c\/em\u003e tells the story of a young woman's fateful train journey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLips the color of blood, the sun an unprecedented orange, train wheels that sound like \"guilt, and guilt, and guilt\" these are just some of the things Mary Ventura begins to notice on her journey to the ninth kingdom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"But what \u003cem\u003eis\u003c\/em\u003e the ninth kingdom?\" she asks a kind-seeming lady in her carriage. \"It is the kingdom of the frozen will,\" comes the reply. \"There is no going back.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSylvia Plath's strange, dark tale of female agency and independence, written not long after she herself left home, grapples with mortality in motion.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePlath, Sylvia:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eSylvia Plath was born in 1932 in Massachusetts. Her books include the poetry collections \u003cem\u003eThe Colossus\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCrossing the Water\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWinter Trees\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eAriel\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eCollected Poems\u003c\/em\u003e, which won the Pulitzer Prize. A complete and uncut facsimile edition of \u003cem\u003eAriel\u003c\/em\u003e was published in 2004 with her original selection and arrangement of poems. She was married to the poet Ted Hughes, with whom she had a daughter, Frieda, and a son, Nicholas. She died in London in 1963.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50599608451346,"sku":"9780062940834","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_909263de-04e5-4e62-9e80-ae23a5809d02.jpg?v=1732202822","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/mary-ventura-and-the-ninth-kingdom-a-story-9780062940834","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}