... highly readable, entertaining...the novel is an ingenious addition to an ever-growing body of work about Plath that has helped make her an American literary icon ... Expertly woven together, the three storylines tell one story ... Last Confessions is not without its missteps, including factual errors and misrepresentations ... In the end, though, Last Confessions captures larger truths, such as the place Plath has come to occupy in the literary canon.
Last Confessions is framed as a literary whodunnit of sorts ... While that premise certainly drives the narrative and comes to a satisfying conclusion after a slow-to-build start, it isn’t what creates the pulse of the novel. Where Kravetz really stirs up the magic is in his depictions of the interplay between madness and art; Plath’s gnawing loneliness and insecurity; and Rhodes’ ever-present quest for attention and recognition ... Literary history-savvy readers might also enjoy the myriad based-on-truth Easter eggs hidden throughout ... Is all of Last Confessions true? Of course not. It’s fiction, after all. But Kravetz makes good use of history’s rich material to spin a captivating story about some of the art world’s most notorious writers and thinkers.
An intricately plotted literary thriller ... It’s a great premise, but the poetic structure — three voices and three timelines echoing the three notebooks — can at times get in its own way. The auction, for example, is spread out over so many pages that it loses some of its drama, while Rhodes’s self-cannibalizing jealousy infuses so many of her chapters that she teeters on becoming tiresome and shrill. But while the mystery is at times too tricky for its own good, the book is lifted by Kravetz’s supple writing. Plain but beautiful, he turns the ordinary poetic ... Throughout, this graceful prose is put to good use, framing meaty questions about the commodification of art — and the artist ... [A] deft debut.
... an evocative novel sure to enchant lovers of historical fiction as well as fans of Sylvia Plath ... Journalist and psychotherapist Kravetz...skillfully weaves the narrative threads into a depiction of the complicated life of a literary genius: perfectly balancing intrigue and poetry, he uses the women as windows into the life of Sylvia Plath ... Kravetz's debut novel...is both lyrical and plot-driven, a difficult balance for any author to strike. Intriguing even for those who have not read The Bell Jar, it is perhaps even more gripping for longtime Plath loyalists.
... a fascinating fictional re-creation of Plath’s final decade, a paean to the allure of poetry and an investigation of the mysterious sources of literary inspiration, as told by three women close to Plath ... Rotating between the three voices, Kravetz skillfully orchestrates a chorus of regret and longing that swirls around Plath. The women, each of whom has been touched by Plath in markedly different ways, try to make sense of their lives and their relationship to hers. Into this narrative Kravetz cleverly inserts a subplot that pursues the mystery of how Plath’s notebooks fall into the hands of a pair of aliterate Boston house flippers. The Last Confessions of Sylvia P. will intrigue admirers of Plath’s work and likely introduce her to a new group of readers.
These fictionalized real-life characters could have inspired a deep inquiry into creativity and madness, poetry and survival. Instead, Kravetz, a magnetizing storyteller with a satiric wit, has crafted an incisive, suspenseful, and head-spinning tale of the perils of artistic obsession, coveted objects, ferocious ambition, and tragic betrayal.
Engrossing ... The author creates a taut air of tension ... Kravetz brings both authority and empathy to his depictions of mental illness. He also reveals himself to be a fine novelist.
A compelling literary mystery ... Kravetz skillfully weaves the three storylines into a satisfying whole as the mystery of Plath’s journals is resolved. Writing about real literary figures can be tricky, especially if their descendants are still living, but the author brings his characters, both imagined and historical, to life with sensitivity ... An elegantly written novel for lovers of poetry and literary history.
