The Lovely Bones
the inspiration for the blockbuster film starring Saoirse Ronan
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4.5 • 152 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
A haunting and heartbreaking novel narrated from heaven as a young girl watches over her family and killer.
My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.
In heaven, Susie Salmon can have whatever she wishes for – except what she most wants, which is to be back with the people she loved on earth.
In the wake of her murder, Susie watches as her happy suburban family is torn apart by grief; as her friends grow up, fall in love, and do all the things she never had the chance to do herself. But as Susie will come to realize, even in death, life is not quite out of reach . . .
An astonishing novel about life and death, memory and forgetting, and finding light in the darkest places.
Alice Sebold's book inspired the Peter Jackson film, starring Susan Sarandon and Saoirse Ronan.
'Moving and compelling . . . I sat down in the morning to read the first couple of pages; five hours later, I was still there, book in hand, transfixed' – Maggie O'Farrell (author of The Marriage Portrait), Sunday Telegraph
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
HSebold's first novel after her memoir, Lucky is a small but far from minor miracle. Sebold has taken a grim, media-exploited subject and fashioned from it a story that is both tragic and full of light and grace. The novel begins swiftly. In the second sentence, Sebold's narrator, Susie Salmon, announces, "I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Susie is taking a shortcut through a cornfield when a neighbor lures her to his hideaway. The description of the crime is chilling, but never vulgar, and Sebold maintains this delicate balance between homely and horrid as she depicts the progress of grief for Susie's family and friends. She captures the odd alliances forged and the relationships ruined: the shattered father who buries his sadness trying to gather evidence, the mother who escapes "her ruined heart, in merciful adultery." At the same time, Sebold brings to life an entire suburban community, from the mortician's son to the handsome biker dropout who quietly helps investigate Susie's murder. Much as this novel is about "the lovely bones" growing around Susie's absence, it is also full of suspense and written in lithe, resilient prose that by itself delights. Sebold's most dazzling stroke, among many bold ones, is to narrate the story from Susie's heaven (a place where wishing is having), providing the warmth of a first-person narration and the freedom of an omniscient one. It might be this that gives Sebold's novel its special flavor, for in Susie's every observation and memory of the smell of skunk or the touch of spider webs is the reminder that life is sweet and funny and surprising,.
Customer Reviews
Ending
Amazing book, bad ending that could of been a lot better
A heartbreaking yet inspiring tale
The film was good, I wanted to read the book to understand the true depth and complexity of the characters and the true detail behind Susie’s heaven. Alice did a fantastic job of creating this reality for me.
Beautiful story
I first read this book when I was 15 years old after receiving it as a birthday gift. It’s one of those books that stays with you for a long time. I read it again at 26 and the story has had the same powerful effect on me as it did a decade ago. I can’t recommend this book enough. The story is told through a young girls eyes as she looks down at her family and friends from the in between. It’s heartbreaking and bittersweet at times and The author did an excellent job of conveying the raw emotions of these characters. I know there was a movie about it but I can honestly say the movie does the book no justice whatsoever.