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Revision as of 13:19, 5 April 2018
, 13:19, 5 April 2018no edit summary
{{infoboxsortinfobox1
|title=The Lovely Bones
|sort=Lovely Bones
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=256
|publisher=Picador
|date=June 2003
|isbn=0330485385
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>0330485385</amazonuk>|amazonusaznuk=0330485385|aznus=<amazonus>0330485385</amazonus>
}}
Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon is raped and murdered in a cornfield on her way home from school. Most of her body is never found but there is sufficient evidence for her family - mother, father, brother and sister - to accept that she is dead. Her murderer is a neighbour and serial killer. Susie's mother had admired his flower border and her father had discussed fertilizer with him. When Susie gets to heaven she finds that it looks like her local school and she only has to think of something for it to appear magically, except she cannot return to the people she loved on earth. She can only watch their grief.
This is Alice Sebold's debut novel, but I suspect it is not the first book that she wrote. In her first year at college she was raped and the story of what happened and her fight for justice is told in her book "Lucky" published in October 2004. "The Lovely Bones" seems to be autobiographical in more than one sense. Part of what happened to Susie happened to her, but more importantly, we see Sebold emerging in the character of Lindsey and her refusal to be a victim.
This book does have its detractors. There are people who dislike the sentimentality and there are those who find the heaven device too much to take. It's a good story though and it's well written. I doubt that it will become a classic such as "[[To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee|To Kill a Mockingbird" ]] - a book which kept springing to mind as I read - but if you would like a few hours rich, relaxing enjoyment then it could be the book for you.
{{amazontext|amazon=0330485385}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=49778370330485385}}
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|name=lhine
|verb=said
|comment= I agree with your comments. I thought before I read this that it would be oversentimental and unreadable, but when I started I found I couldn't put it down. I thought it was beautifully written in an understated way and instead of being depressing as I had feared, was quite uplifting in the end. Would recommend this to anyone.
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{{comment
|name=kell Smurthwaite
|verb=said
|comment= The front cover of The Time Traveler's Wife reads "This is the next The Lovely Bones," but if I'd read this one first, I never would have read the other & would then have missed out on a fantastic read. To be frank, I didn't enjoy this book at all. I got incredibly angry at the stupidity of a 14-year-old girl who would allow herself to be drawn into such an obviously dangerous position. Even being set in the 70's, it was the decade that The Yorkshire Ripper on the rampage in Britain, it's hard to believe that over in America people didn't take notice of what could happen.
Yes, I know that's not terribly PC of me, but it's how I felt reading it. I think perhaps I would have been able to get on better with the storyline if she'd been dragged, kicking & screaming into that underground room. Nobody deserves to get raped & murdered, but I couldn't help but feel that she'd brought a lot of it on herself & that meant I was now feeling guilty too.
Sorry, but I won't be reading anything else Ms Sebold writes.
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{{comment
|name=Sue
|verb=said
|comment= Thanks, Kell - it's really great to hear a dissenting view.
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{{comment
|name=Beverley
|verb=said
|comment= I was also apprehensive of the "narrated from heaven" aspect of this novel, but was pleased to find it was not at all religious and could be enjoyably read by followers of any faith, or, like me, no particular faith at all other than a belief in life after death, which was why I picked it up in the first place.
If you're expecting a stereotypical Demi Moore/Patrick Swayze type crusade for justice, then you'll probably be diappointed, but if you want a thought-provoking read that successfully explores the shift in family dynamics after a member is murdered, then you'll enjoy it.
Definitely on my list to read again.
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{{comment
|name=amythompson 21
|verb=said
|comment= I have to say I totally disagree with what Kel said about the book below.
I think this is the most amazing book I have ever read the heaven part of the book is pure imagination and I believe it is for people to see it however they feel comfortable.
