Elizabeth Curran Boody
South Royalton, Vermont

Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar is Sylvia Plath's semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman, Esther Greenwood, struggling to free herself from a bell jar of cultural expectations and her own self-doubt. Esther uses a metaphorical fig tree to describe many life paths she can choose - career, family, traveling - and in each dropped fig, she sees a missed opportunity. At a crossroads in her young life, choosing a "fig" will determine the rest of her journey and the formation of her identity. Meanwhile, figs continue to drop at her feet.

Full goatskin binding with calf and goat onlays embroidered with cotton thread, rolled leather endbands, and Madeleine Durham paste papers. 8.75 x 5.5 x 1 inches. 22 x 14 x 2.5 centimeters. Created 2018.

ELIZABETH CURRAN BOODY is the assistant conservator at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and resides in a small town in Vermont. Her bookbinding knowledge and interest in conservation began at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Website: www.elizabethacurran.com