Review #6

Citation:Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones. Little Brown and  Company: USA 2002

Genre: Horror; Coming of age; Supernatural

Annotation: Haunting and unforgettable, the story of a 14 year old girl's rape and murder told from Heaven.

Justification for nomination: "My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." (page 5) Susie Salmon was raped and murdered by her next door neighbor, George Harvey. What follows is a narration from heaven of her family's reaction and slow disintegration. Her family is unable to deal with their loss and the mystery surrounding Susie's death. Susie, finds herself in a Heaven of her own making with Franny her guide to help her along. Her heaven resembles a high school playground where she gets everything she wants except for the return to earth with the people she loves. Susie is unable to do anything but watch as her family falls apart. She is able to briefly show herself to her father and brother, but nothing in those first months can stop the inevitable stages of grief that the family must go through to come out the other end.

As the weeks and months go by, Susie follows the life of her family and friends, while keeping an eye on Harvey. She meets Harvey's others victims in heaven and comes to understand that his traumatic childhood has made him unsuccessful in his attempt to stop killing.

Susie will never be able to experience growing up herself, so she has to be content in following Ruth, her former classmate's daily routine of adolescences. One reason Susie can't let go of Earth, is her unfilled desires. She longs to experience the joy of first love. "at fourteen my sister sailed away from me into a place I'd never been. In the walls of my sex there was horror and blood, in the walls of hers there were windows." (page 125) It is only when Susie is allowed to come back to earth to make love with Ray Singh the boy with whom she was just starting to have a relationship when she was murdered, and ensure that George Harvey can never kill again is Susie able to move on into "adult Heaven". The book ends with Susie and her family all being given the gift of letting go and moving on. Susie finishes with a wish for the reader to have a "long and happy life."

Though a seemingly unbearable tragedy, the book is an imaginative and moving exploration of loss with a plot that features suspense, romance, mystery and hope. It leaves the reader not sad but thoughtful.