Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom by Sylvia Plath
There’s been quite a flutter of excitement around the planned releases to celebrate the esteemed publisher Faber and Faber’s 90th birthday. Known for their marvellous poetry publishing (and former employer of T.S. Eliot), Faber have issued works by everyone from Beckett, Betjeman and Hughes to Eliot himself; and very importantly, one of my favourite authors, Sylvia Plath! Central to the celebrations was the release of a number of little volumes of individual short stories; and the major excitement came from the fact that one of these was a short work by Plath which had never been published before. It was a given that I had to have this, and a copy duly arrived on release date, 3rd January. Trouble was, I was almost scared to read it in case it didn’t live up to the hype…
Well, reader, it did! “Mary Ventura…” was written in 1952, when Plath was a student at Smith College. The title character takes her name from one of Sylvia’s high school friends, and had featured in an earlier unrelated tale; this story, described by Plath as a ‘vague symbolic tale’, was submitted to Mademoiselle magazine in December 1952. Sylvia had recently won their writing prize, but they magazine rejected this new work; their loss, I’m afraid, because I think it’s excellent and I’m so glad it’s finally seen the light of day!
And I here I hit my first problem. “Mary Ventura..” is 40 pages long and to give away too many plot details would really spoil your reading experience (and you ARE going to go out and get a copy of this, aren’t you??) Let’s just say the story opens with Mary being seen off on a long train journey by her parents; they’re oddly distanced and distracted, and Mary seems unsure if she wants to make the long journey north, stating that she isn’t ready to leave. Nevertheless, the train departs with Mary on it; yet nothing seems quite normal. Mary is unsure of where she’s actually going; a woman keeping her company seems to know more about what’s happening than her young fellow traveller; and a vague air of foreboding hangs over the whole enterprise. The ending is symbolic and perhaps unexpected.
I got to the end of the story thinking “Blimey! That’s brilliant!” and then wondering why on earth it hasn’t been published before. Yes, perhaps it’s a little unpolished in places – Plath was, after all, still a fledgling author – but the concept is clever, the atmosphere effectively conjured and the allegory isn’t heavy-handed. In fact, it’s pretty impressive how Plath uses the ‘less is more’ approach, creating tension and uncertainty by implication rather than stating things out-and-out. Motivations and settings are often left cloudy and unresolved, and this makes the story’s unsettling impact even stronger.
Approaching “Mary Ventura…” with knowledge of Plath’s sometimes complex family history and her own struggles does perhaps colour your reading of it. However, even without that background, I think the story stands in its own right, as a look at the complexities of striking out on your own, being ready to leave family life and take on independence, and the importance of a supportive family network around you. For a short piece, it certainly raises a number of issues.The Faber Stories collection consists of 20 short works which are listed on the flap of this one, and the list of authors is impressive, taking in for example Brian Aldiss, Djuna Barnes, Edna O’Brien, P.D. James and Sally Rooney, to name just a few. Yet I can’t help feeling that Sylvia Plath’s story is the jewel in the crown here; it lingers in the mind and the topics it raises are thought-provoking ones. Aside from that, it’s simply a readable, fascinating, often unsettling tale with can be read in one burst (because you’re desperate to get to the end and find out what happens!) but which then has you wanting to revisit it to look for clues. Very clever, and evidence of just what a great writer Sylvia Plath was, and what a loss she was at such a young age. And it’s set me wondering about what other unpublished gems of hers might be in existence; I do hope that, if there are any out there, they surface in my lifetime…
Jan 15, 2019 @ 07:46:13
What a gorgeous edition! I really would have thought there wasn’t much left undiscovered of Plath, and you’ve really got me intrigued on this one. I’m always undecided about Plath but for 40 pages I’ll definitely give it a try 🙂
Jan 15, 2019 @ 09:26:34
It’s a very pretty little book, and marvellously memorable. Definitely worth giving it a go – I’ve heard the word ‘nightmarish’ applied to the world Plath creates, and that’s not far off…
Jan 15, 2019 @ 09:10:12
I’m so glad this lived up to your expectations. For a book lover there is little worse than a long awaited publication which isn’t what you’d hoped for!
Jan 15, 2019 @ 09:25:40
I’m glad too! I was so apprehensive, because I love Plath’s work so much. This really did live up to expectations! 😀
Jan 15, 2019 @ 11:09:03
In answer to your mid-post question yes indeed I am getting a copy! And I too am glad to see you weren’t disappointed. My expectations are tempered with the knowledge of her age and experience at the time, but I just want it to be her memorable voice that will stay with me like her other work, and it sounds like it will 🙂
Jan 15, 2019 @ 11:40:30
Glad you’ll be tracking this down! I picked up elements of “Johnny Panic…” although this is of course a much earlier work. But it felt like Plath to me and I think it would have stood up in its own right, even if I hadn’t known who wrote it!
Jan 15, 2019 @ 18:18:16
It can be interesting to read something like this, an early, fledgling piece written at a time when the author may well have been experimenting or trying to find their style. I’m so glad it lived up to the hype!
Jan 15, 2019 @ 20:26:09
It certainly did! And it was fascinating to see how Plath’s mind was working so early in her writing career.
Jan 15, 2019 @ 19:42:24
Thank you for the review, Karen! I didn’t know there was an unpublished story by Plath, and now I am getting a copy of this in 3, 2, 1 …. 🙂
Jan 15, 2019 @ 20:23:46
I must admit to being ridiculously excited when I heard about it – and I was so glad it lived up to my expectations!
Jan 15, 2019 @ 20:33:43
I may have to break my no new books resolve for this – and some of the other Faber stories. I have seen them pictured on Twitter, and they look temptingly collectable. This one is top of the list.
Jan 16, 2019 @ 10:22:53
It’s a fascinating range, isn’t it? I could happily read the lot, but I really shouldn’t be buying at the moment. But I *would* suggest you break the resolve for this one if nothing else! 😀
Jan 15, 2019 @ 20:48:20
This is a lovely way to celebrate their 90th isn’t it? I love the covers too.
Jan 16, 2019 @ 10:18:40
It’s a brilliant idea, and the covers are just wonderful! So striking!
Jan 16, 2019 @ 07:35:04
How wonderful and what a great cover, too!
Jan 16, 2019 @ 10:06:49
It really is wonderful and the cover very much captures the mood of the story! 😀
Jan 16, 2019 @ 11:08:32
Hello and happy new year! And thanks for breaking my resolution not to buy any more books for the next three months!
But it does seem worth it…
Jan 16, 2019 @ 13:29:39
Happy new year to you too! And I refuse to feel guilty because it’s only a diddy little book and it’s most definitely worth it… ;D
Jun 25, 2020 @ 07:12:14