The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Reviewed by Charlotte Delmarche

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Also available in Drew University Library's Popular Literature Collection: POP LIT SEB 

            The Lovely Bones tells the life story of Suzie Salmon. Suzie, a 13-year-old, has a good life and a nice family. She does well in school, has a lot of friends and even has a relationship on the horizon.  But right now, she is in heaven. She’s just been raped and killed and her adventure has only begun.  From heaven, her new home, she watches with tenderness and irony what happens below: her family’s pain, the policemen’s investigation, how her murderer lives carrying the secret of her death.

            The novel takes a soft tone after describing Suzie’s murder and rape.  Obviously, the author is working to convey the peace and happiness Suzie feels among the angels.   As a whole, this story brings human beings together.  Pain is definitively present but anger is not.  The reader follows the life of the family without Suzie’s presence, including what they do to survive her death, and how they manage to keep living and smiling.  Nobody forgets Suzie.  On the contrary, her memory is present a little more everyday!

            Through Suzie’s eyes, the reader experiences pain, memories, smiles, tears and happiness.  It is impossible to leave the story unscathed.  The feelings evoked through the reading of this story are haunting.  The reader will never see death through the same eyes. 

            American writer Alice Sebold, who draws her inspiration from a difficult rape experience, has a marvellous writing style. The Lovely Bones is true to life in its dealings with the feelings of pain and sadness experienced when we lose close relatives.