If I hadn't known this novel was centred on the elusive, ethereal presence of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, my reading experience would have been quite different. The story is told through the different residents of the Devon village in which the couple lived in the last year of Sylvia's life. I've long been fascinated by the lives of the poets and thought this a fantastic way of telling their story. 

It's the early 60s and a pivotal time in the lives of the most celebrated couple in literary England. Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes have recently bought a cottage in Devon, full of anticipation of the joy it will bring them and their young family.

We learn of their hopes and worries through the people in the small community they've joined. We read of the observations of the cleaner looking after their house, the GP advising on illnesses and accidents, the shop assistant presenting dresses for a special occasion, and the farm labourer teaching Sylvia how to ring the church bells. And more.

It's a beautifully written account, where the 'ordinary people' are centre stage, and we slowly and subtly learn of the poets in their midst. What's more the story is told backwards. We begin in 1962 when life is beginning to unravel (and just a few short months before Sylvia's tragic end in London). The story concludes with those early days in Devon, in 1961, where the future is full of promise.

I finished the book and immediately wanted to read it again, the other way round. I loved it.