An utterly excellent look behind the scenes of one of the 20th century's most intriguing poets. True, it is not for everyone as these are indeed, her journals. Never intended for publication, they are a hodgepodge of topics, styles, and times that are maddeningly inconsistent. That said there is no finer way to catch a glimpse of the woman behind the poetry.

The single most frustrating aspect of the Journals is what is glaringly missing. Her final two journals were destroyed after her death and it is these that cover the time when she was crafting the poems that made up the collection contained in 'Ariel'. How wonderful it would have been to see how she created and polished those! Alas, we will never know.