Ted Hughes. The Life of a Poet

(London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001) 029764601X. 8vo; original boards; pictorial dustwrapper; pp. xiv + 273, incl. index; plates. Trace of edgewear to dustwrapper; top edge foxed, occasional fox spot elsewhere. Very good condition. "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. ... This is an outstanding biography, the first since Hughes' death, of an exceptional poet whose life, if not conventionally blameless, was always lived with generosity; and a large-spirited, magnetic personality who enriched any company he entered." .