Following the news that American au- thor Harper Lee will publish the long- awaited sequel to her classic novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, The Cheese Grat- er has learned that another literary ‘one hit wonder’ is planning another trip on the gravy train.
Sylvia Plath, whose only novel, 1963’s ‘The Bell Jar’, sold 3 million copies, is rumoured to be working on a sequel. Internal correspondence obtained from her publisher mentions ‘The Bell Jar II: Electric Boogaloo’ and ‘The Bell Jar 2 - Cruise Control’ as possible working titles.
Plath’s original semi-autobiographical page turner told the story of a young woman’s spiral into mental illness and repeated suicidal episodes. This latest novel will hopefully mark a timely re- turn to form for Plath, who has been uncharacteristically quiet over the past five decades.
There’s never been a better (or more lucrative) time for Plath to finally get round to penning her difficult second album, with the ‘chick-lit’ genre cur- rently booming.
‘Mad About the Boy’, the latest in Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones series of novels, was one of last year’s biggest sellers. Frothy celeb autobiographies are also huge right now, with curvy Stephen Fry publishing his third recently.
Another helping of Plath’s semi-autobi- ographical city girl is guaranteed to be this year’s hit beach read.
We can only hope Plath doesn’t rush to finish her book in the wake of Lee’s an- nouncement. ‘The Bell Jar’ was an abso- lute gas, so maybe it’s best to leave the sequel in the oven just a little bit longer, eh Sylvia? Whatever Plath’s got cook- ing, it’s great to see another female liter- ary lead not just found in the kitchen, and this is one sequel that we can prom- ise won’t be dead on arrival.