It’s been fifty-five years since Sylvia Plath’s first and only novel The Bell Jar was published. It was originally released under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas, in order to protect her identity from an overbearing mother. The first UK edition, released posthumously in 1966, finally included Plath’s real name and featured a suitably existential cover designed by Shirley Tucker. To this day it is still considered one of the greatest versions of the title, amid complaints of overtly frivolous or “girly” versions that have since been released.
