I couldn't get into this. It was very informative but I wasn't connecting with it. It's on me, I'm a historical fiction gal.

Three Martini Afternoons at the Ritz

Two female legends ahead of their time, sums up the story of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. This alluring depiction of the individual lives of these two women is at times hard to imagine being true. Both women were well educated, talented and eternally troubled with problems brought on by disturbing childhoods. Anne and Sylvia tried to have families and careers during a time when woman were frowned upon for wanting to do anything outside of being a wife and mother. One wonders if they had lived 20 years later if their lives would have been as wretched?

It is apparent that this author spent a lot of time researching and delving into the woman’s histories to portray the most accurate picture of them. Portions of the book were very hard to read and left me with a haunting feeling afterwards. Overall, the book was very well written and an endearing tribute to these creative women. It left me wanting to read more about them and explore their works further.

A vivid and intriguing look at the lives of two fascinating--and fascinatingly flawed--creative talents. To counterpoint and contrast Plath's and Sexton's lives is an ambitious effort: Gail Crowther shows how both women were driven and destroyed by both similarities and differences in their histories and psychological makeup.

A dual biography that reads like fiction--ambitious and intriguing.

I didn’t like the organization. It is like following a ping pong game—back and forth between characters, often within the same paragraph. I found it interfered with comprehension.

I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to read this book. It was a very informative look at the lives of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton and the complicated lives they both lived, as mothers and poets. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning about the challenge of working mothers in the 50s and 60s, mental health and the literary community. So many interesting themes were explored and it was very well-researched.

It's remarkable that how two women could be so different yet so similar. One was overly organized, somewhat enjoying motherhood, has stiff upper-lip, nearly intimidating while the other was bit messy, not the most loyal, enjoying good life and detesting motherhood. These two women, Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath, defined what feminism means for generations to come.

This book is a good non-fiction. It doesn't bore you with pointless details or it doesn't go on and on about one topic. It has a great balance of providing factual data to let you form your own conclusions and having a comparative narrative. It hits that sweet spot!

I did not know much about Anne Sexton's work but I was familiar with Sylvia Plath's work and story. I wouldn't have thinking about putting these very two women together, but with this book I was able to see how these opposites ended up on the same side fighting the same fight. If you are interested in bite size biographies and contemporary characters, I would recommend this book

A wonderful book about the lives of Sylvia Plauth and Anne Setton., two famous twentieth century poets, writers and fascinating women. The chapters are well outlined focusing on different aspects of their lives., but also how they were similar. These two women lived through the 50’s and 60’s when women were expected to be handmaidens to their homes, husbands and children. Both were before their times in a male dominated profession. Both had mental health problems which are detailed. This was a fascinating story about two fascinating women.

This is a well researched narrative on Sexton and Plath's lives and work. Their stories are complex and dark, if you're looking for a narrative with redemptive qualities or a happy ending, this obviously isn't it. I was fascinated by their struggle to break social norms in an era when women were meant to be looked at, not taken seriously. This book delves deep into the details of their lives from childhood until their death and focuses heavily on their early adult years.
I felt like this was more of a compare and contrast of their work and lives, while their 'friendship' plays very little into the narrative. My biggest complaint about the book is the loooong chapters. I feel like this is a narrative that needs to be taken in bits at a time, it's very interesting but not really compelling, and it's detail heavy. For me it would have been more user friendly if the sections were broken up more so the book was easier to pick up and read a bit at a time.
I don't have a personal interest in Sexton and Plath but I really enjoyed the author's writing and and felt that the level of detail isn't likely to be found elsewhere. I would definitely pick up another title by Gail Crowther.

In Three Martini Afternoons at the Ritz, Crowther offers dual (and sometimes dueling) biographies of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. She attempts to share full portraits of each woman by focusing on different aspects of their lives, including their work, their relationships, and the roles they played in society. Rather than exploring their stories chronologically, Crowther divides the book into chapters focused on different subjects, such as their early days, sex, writing, and the struggle to balance the role of a housewife with the freedom of a modern poet.

This book feels well-researched, and Crowther does a fantastic job of showing all sides of both women. Although I knew little about these two writers before this book, I am now interested in spending more time with their works. Crowther paints a portrait of two complicated and creative women who I want to know more about from their own words.

Initially, I was slightly disappointed. The title created an expectation for me that this book would focus on stories of the two writers together, but that isn’t the case. At times, I felt that her frequent mentions of the three-martini afternoons without presenting much other enduring evidence of friendship makes it seem that she wishes there was more of a connection there than there was. She romanticizes those afternoons without the proof needed to support her connecting arguments.

However, if you enter this book with the understanding that this is more of a compare and contrast situation, you’ll be more richly rewarded. Crowther clearly completed the necessary work to showcase the fullness of both of their lives.

Fans of Sylvia Plath and/or Anne Sexton, this is definitely for you. Read through a couple of their poems, make a martini (or 3), and settle in.

Three Martini Afternoons at the Ritz, by Gail Crowther, will be something that will appeal to anyone who has an interest in these two brilliant writers. I’m sure many will enjoy this book.

I have never cared for poetry. So why read a biography showcasing Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath? Because I like biographies and I have read biographies on both women prior to reading this one. Crowther illustrates how alike both women were in their work, upbringing, and their,demise. But she also points out how different they were. I liked the chapter breakdowns because they made sense. I did not read anything particularly new and earth shattering about either woman. It was interesting to read how their belongings were divided and what was retained and where some of those items are. I would recommend this book for anyone who has been introduced to Sexton or Plath because it provides a good introduction and overview of both their lives.

Gail Crowther has put together a fascinating book that examines Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton as poets, women, and colleagues during a time when powerful women (even in the literary field) were overlooked and undervalued. I'm a self-described amateur, armchair Plath "historian" (I'm saying that with tongue in cheek humor more than legit seriousness), and while I'm familiar with Anne Sexton, I really didn't know much about her before reading this, but I'm now curious to look more into her life and her writing. That being said, I didn't learn anything about Plath that I didn't already know. Admittedly, I read this immediately after finishing Heather Clark's Red Comet, which I think is THE quintessential Plath biography, so it probably isn't fair to look at the two with the same lens, especially since they're very different books.

Crowther honestly compares and contrasts the two women while making it clear that they were their own separate people with separate identities, struggles, desires, and loves. Her writing is easy to follow, and her love for her topic shines through. I definitely enjoyed the approach she took to connecting the relationship between Plath and Sexton, and I think Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz is a good read for all Plath-Sexton "historians," whether amateur armchair or real.

Three-Martini Afternoons at the Ritz by Gail Crowther is a well-researched, voyeuristic dual biography of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. The title refers to the brief period where their lives intersected at Boston University and they became friends, often drinking martinis at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Boston. The author does not hold anything back, giving this biography a voyeuristic feel while painting Sexton and Plath as real, complex women. Individually, they were so different from each other-from personality, background, and even the implementation of boundaries in their lives; but intersected with writing and bonded over mental illness, writing, and their gender. This book is very well-researched and includes a lot of information, but the style is quite readable so I quickly finished this one. The biography is organized by topic, like Writing, Marriage, Mental Illness, etc. I loved this fascinating dual biography.

Thank you Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

This non-fiction book is a must read for those interested in the intersection of feminism and literature. A combination of biography and social commentary, Three-Martini Afternoons covers the lives of two renowned poets, Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, in a serious of straightforward chapters taking the reader on a parallel journey through their lives. While the book had a bit of an academic feel to it, I also found it very accessible, even to people who know nothing about either of these authors. Since both women struggled with mental illness, there are definitely some sad moments, as they were both so talented and yet, so troubled. Very well researched, respectful and fascinating reporting.

An interesting duel biography of the poets Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath. Setting the relationship of these women as the foundation for the narrative worked well.

This is a fantastic book. The idea is genius and the research is impeccable. The author truly did an impressive job with this book. Both authors are shown in various lights and aspects of their lives. The chapters are divided into sections that are interesting and parallel to both poets. I found it interesting that the author didn't play favorites and also didn't give mercy. She laid out all the nitty-gritty parts. I have new respect and empathy for both ladies thanks to this book.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this gem.

Despite the abundance of books about Sylvia Plath and (to a lesser degree) Anne Sexton, this dual biography is well worth reading. The author brings new material, new insights, and an objectivity to the lives and writing of both women and she considers the difficulty of being an independent woman artist in the 1950s and -60s. Ms. Crowther brings to life their relationships and the effects of those on the ability of each woman to create her poetry. The impression Ms. Crowther leaves is that Sexton experienced a greater degree of what was probably bipolar disorder and that her impulsive affairs and sexual behavior made her life a tightrope walk. Plath seems more depressive, yet committed to writing even in the most dire of circumstances. Her marriage to Ted Hughes still seems to be the primary tragedy in her life along with the impossibility of taking care of her beloved children while making a living without financial or emotional support from Hughes. His flagrant affairs and self-centeredness come across as cruel. Sexton and Plath met during a summer poetry workshop with Robert Lowell, who was himself on the cusp of an emotional crash. The title of the books comes from Sexton's and Plath's delightful habit of proceeding to Boston's Ritz-Carlton after workshop sessions and having three or four martinis along with free snacks. These afternoons were respites for both women and it was then that the lifelong emotional connection between them was forged. Even when Plath moved to England and Sexton remained in Massachusetts, they communicated through letters that at times provided a lifeline to both of them.
I highly recommend this book for its deep research, objectivity, and fluid writing style.

This dual biography of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath was a very interesting read. It’s no secret that women writers were not taken seriously back when they were writing. This book details their struggles in the parallel and was less about their friendship than expected. Absolutely a great source of information for anyone interested in either of these two fascinating women.

Gail Crowther's dual biography of Plath and Sexton archives the razor's edge of respect and jealousy on which their friendship balanced. Worlds apart in many ways, their lives paralleled around their life experiences, especially regarding the female writers right to her career. Crowther carefully documents life events leading to the women's development into the creatures they become. She also records a more holistic picture of the two: Neither woman was always in a state of melancholy and depression, but felt great joy during periods of their lives. She tells the reader of how their bodies of work have been limited in many ways. How many of us knew, for instance, that Plath was writing novels at the time of her death? This is a valuable text, one that brings real poignancy to the lives of these iconic writers. The reader is left with empathy for these women and the ache of "what might have been."

This book was the perfect escape. It was lovely and fun. It was my first book by this author and I will definitely be on the look out for more!!