Sylvia Plath letters set to be published this year claim domestic abuse by Ted Hughes
More light has been shed on poets' famously turbulent marriage thanks to unseen correspondence between Plath and her therapist
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Letters from Sylvia Plath to her former therapist Ruth Barnhouse contain allegations of domestic abuse by Ted Hughes, it has been reported.
The unpublished correspondence about one of literature's most notorious relationships claim that Hughes beat Plath two days before she miscarried her second child, and that he told her that he wished her dead, The Guardian reports.
The two accusations are apparently just some of the allegations that appear in the letters, which were written between 18 February 1960 and 4 February 1963, a week before Plath took her own life.
They are part of a collection put together by feminist scholar Harriet Rosenstein seven years after Plath died, which came to light after a bookseller auctioned it for £695,000.
Co-editor Peter Steinberg said: "It's an amazing collection of material that has been completely off the radar."
Yorkshire-born Hughes met Plath while they were students at Cambridge University in 1956.
Four months later they were married, and formed a partnership that led to Plath's novel The Bell Jar, and Hughes' breakthrough Hawk in the Rain collection.
After her death, Hughes said that his wife's journals from that period when the letters were written were lost, including the last volume which is said he destroyed to protect their two children. Hughes was repeatedly condemned for this act.
The Guardian reports that the collected letters are set to be published by Faber, with the first of two volumes due for release on 5 October.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments