The Hawk in the Rain (1957) is Hughes's first collection of poetry. It was met with some of the highest acclaim of any young poet of the time. It is worth reading today just to note the remarkable contrast to the poems from Birthday Letters, his last collection.

Though published nearly three decades ago, Keith Sagar's The Art of Ted Hughes (1975) is still an intriguing, compact look at the poet's work in the first decade after Plath's death. It also includes a biography of Hughes's childhood and the author's take on Hughes's influence on Plath's poetry.

Plath's autobiographical novel The Bell Jar (1963) was published under the pseudonym of Victoria Lucas a month before her death. The novel takes place in New York at the height of the Cold War, and the story of the heroine's breakdown and near death are modeled...