On the 25 February, 1956, a rather drunk Sylvia Plath made her way to the launch of Cambridge literary journal St Botolph’s Review, intending to mingle with the literary set before eying a “big, dark, hunky boy” across the room. It was Ted Hughes, and Plath rushed over, attracted to both his looks and poetry. They talked about each of their writing before going into another room, closing the door behind them. Hughes then explained to Plath that he had other “obligations” — i.e. his date in the next room — before kissing her “smash bang on the mouth”. The kiss was supposedly so forceful that Plath’s hairband snapped and her earrings unclipped. As Hughes moved down to kiss her neck, Plath bit in to his cheek so hard that blood began to pour out all over his face. In less than four months they’d be married. While probably being the most important meeting of 20th-century literature, this event finely encapsulates both the intensity and toxicity of their relationship, as well as the blurred line between affection and violence that defines Plath’s work.