Your Story, My Story: A Novel

Written by Connie Palmen

Narrated by Guy Mott

From the award-winning author of The Friendship comes a shattering, brilliantly inventive novel based on the volatile true love story of literary icons Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.

In 1963 Sylvia Plath took her own life in her London flat. Her death was the culmination of a brief, brilliant life lived in the shadow of clinical depression—a condition exacerbated by her tempestuous relationship with mercurial poet Ted Hughes. The ensuing years saw Plath rise to martyr status while Hughes was cast as the cause of her suicide, his infidelity at the heart of her demise.

For decades, Hughes never bore witness to the truth of their marriage—one buried beneath a mudslide of apocryphal stories, gossip, sensationalism, and myth. Until now.

In this mesmerizing fictional work, Connie Palmen tells his side of the story, previously untold, delivered in Ted Hughes’s own uncompromising voice. A brutal and lyrical confessional, Your Story, My Story paints an indelible picture of their seven-year relationship—the soaring highs and profound lows of star-crossed soul mates bedeviled by their personal demons. It will forever change the way we think about these two literary icons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Translator: Eileen J. Stevens and Anna Asbury
• Release date: Jan 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781713523550

Connie Palmen

Connie Palmen was born in Sint Odiliënberg, the Netherlands, and studied literature and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. She is the author of The Laws, voted the European Novel of the Year and short-listed for the 1996 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; The Friendship, winner of the AKO Literature Prize; Lucifer; and the autobiographical novel I.M. Ms. Palmen currently lives in Amsterdam. For more information, please visit www.conniepalmen.nl.

Reviews for Your Story, My Story

[saschenka-316193 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An imaginative work based on documentary evidence from, and about, Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, written from Hughes’ POV. Usually referring to Sylvia as ‘bride’ cleverly brings attention to both the relationship and the controversy after her death as to which surname to use. Portrayal of Hughes is neither as sinner or saint, but aims to show both as deeply flawed, real people, who ultimately brought out the worst in each other. The book reminds us that most biographies, to various extents, reduce people to “hackneyed” archetypes. Hughes can be seen as both a besotted lover and a 1950s self-absorbed misogynist, a man who wanted to play the hero (“It was up to me to raise her from that death.”) without understanding the role; Plath as caught in that cruelest of nets, the almost healed. Palmen does an excellent job of showing how Hughes has been perceived without critique or admission. Many thoughts attributed to Hughes could apply equally to either of them: “ of a poet who has stood eye-to-eye with everything he has been forced to conceal.” Each had abandonment issues (Hughes’ brother, Plath’s father), a need for external validation, and a love/hate relationship with themselves. The reader is left feeling saddened for both and complicit in the aftermath. Real lives do not have a narrative arc, only individual scenes; in this case, a Bergmanesque scenes from a marriage.

[scottjpearson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel, originally composed in Dutch, profiles two famous English-language poets. Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes romanced, married, and had two children together. While the children were extremely young, Plath committed suicide after Hughes had an affair. This tale, written from Hughes’ perspective (apparently later in life), imagines how his inner life was haunted by her downfall. It accurately captures human nature and the depths of two poets’ struggle with the unfolding of life and fame.The translation flows well and engages the English-language reader. In fact, I did not notice that English was not the original tongue until after I completed the book. Though a fan of poetry and aware of literary history, I am not familiar with either Plath’s or Hughes’ work, so I cannot critically examine this work for reliability. I entrust the reader to other reviews for such critiques.Instead, I focus on more traditional measures of novels, like a compelling tale and interesting characters. This book succeeds on both counts. The author tries to put herself in a great poet’s (Hughes’) distinct voice. For the most part, he appears to be unbiased and factual, but one cannot help but feel that he cannot remain objective about his unfaithfulness and his wife’s subsequent death. It had me wondering, is he a reliable narrator or does he, too, have something to hide?Of course, such questions are fodder for book clubs and discussions, of which this book will surely spawn many. It poignantly depicts the struggles of two prominent poets. (Hughes even went on to become poet laureate of England.) Fans of twentieth-century poetry will enjoy seeing these two dramatized. with many avenues of intersectionality and intrigue opened. It’s a reminder of how much death can haunt life.