Esther Greenwood has what she thought she always wanted - a scholarship, an education, access to exclusive New York events, a steady relationship with a soon-to-be doctor, beauty, brains. But over the course of her summer in the city and the subsequent months, her mental health rapidly deteriorates for seemingly unknown reasons. She cuts off her boyfriend, rarely speaks to friends, can no longer write or focus long enough to read. She doesn’t eat, doesn’t sleep. The only escape from her reality seems to be death - that, or brave the treacherous psych wards and asylums of the 1960s.
I thought this book was extremely interesting. Beyond the discussion of mental health and suicide, which was groundbreaking for its time, I thought that being so immersed in the culture of America in the 60s was really interesting and different from most things that I’ve read lately. I also enjoyed the exploration of what it means to be a woman, from birth control to double standards to mother-daughter relations. I did think that at a certain point it became a bit dull and repetitive, though this may have been intentional. The ending also felt to me a bit rushed and unsatisfying; to me, it didn’t feel like the right conclusion to the build-up that had occurred throughout the book.