This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Book Riot may earn a commission. A note: readers who are sensitive to stories about people like Sylvia Plath who suffered from mental illness and died by suicide should approach this article with caution. Sylvia Plath is one of the most celebrated voices in 20th century American literature. She published two works in her lifetime. Her debut poetry collection was 1960’s The Bell Jar, has become a staple in English literature curricula. She died by suicide in 1963 at age 30. Plath’s second volume of poetry, Ariel, publi...