Kukil, curator of the Plath collection at Smith college, edited this complete edition of Plath`s journals. Spanning the years 1950 to 1959, Plath`s journals reveal a young, talented woman maturing into an important poet. Her observations--whether catty, sad, or occasionally witty--contribute much to Plath scholarship, as they chart her day to day progress and struggle as a woman and a poet. The appendix collects fragments of later entries, including one describing the birth of her second child. This volume does not include journals she kept leading up to her suicide, as these were destroyed after her death.