Sylvia Plath hid behind a pseudonym for The Bell Jar

Before becoming the tragic patron saint of confessional poetry, Sylvia Plath decided to completely hide her identity. In 1963, she published 'The Bell Jar' in the UK under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas. She was terrified that her mother would read the thinly veiled fictionalization of her own mental breakdown and get offended. The book didn't actually bear Plath's real name until several years after her tragic death.