18. Plath enjoyed a passionate affair with a fellow American scholar while sailing to England – despite the fact the man was a newlywed!
Late summer 1955, Plath set sail for England. The voyage across the Atlantic was long and, within days of leaving America, the poet embarked on a romantic affair with Carl Shakin, a physics graduate sailing to England to take up a scholarship in Manchester. This was despite the fact Shakin admitted to Plath that he had only been married for 10 weeks! The two traveled to London together before Shakin left for Manchester. According to her diaries, Plath felt only a small amount of sadness at the end of the affair. Cambridge was calling.
