The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold deals with the loss of a child, sister and friend and the effects it has on everyone’s lives. It deals with the unfortunate sense of guilt each person feels; “If only I had done this or that, she would still be here.” The book discusses growing pains; a part of any teen’s journey growing up and how Lindsey tried to be as normal as possible and how the rest of the world tried to force her into being the victim’s sister, instead of just being another teenager. When Abigail runs away from home, she is running away because she can’t handle how her life has been wrecked by the tragedy of her daughter’s murder. Her husband can’t move forward and she can’t live in the past. In the end I think they found a half-way point, they met in the middle and both gave in a little so they could have each other again.
Susie, in her heaven, with unmet wants and needs, always looking towards earth, longing to back, a part of this world, is a stark contrast to how heaven is usually depicted; as place with no pain and always full of joy. I appreciated this perspective; showing the deceased watching down on us, feeling as if they are missing out because they are not on earth.
During the scene at Hal’s shop, Susie didn’t have to tell Ray who she was, on some level he knew before he even realized he knew. Ray calling her by her name without even realizing what he had done was a dramatic way of showing how Susie had inhabited Ruth’s body. What a beautiful moment for both. But how screwed up is he going to be knowing he had sex with a dead chick!
My biggest criticism of the book is how Jack decided Mr. Harvey was the one who murdered Susie; it was a weak argument with little basis. I didn’t buy it and it irritated me throughout the book when it came up. Also, the back and forth through time was difficult to keep track of; each time you had to pause and figure out where you were at in the story. My final criticism is the brief romance between Len and Abigail; I felt I was reading a script from a Lifetime movie. It did not seem to fit in with the writing of the rest of the book.
A significant praise of the book was the powerful voice the writing evoked, as if you were a part of this world as a friend or family member of Susie’s. The author zeroed in on emotions I have had personally dealing with the disappearance of a close friend; just waiting for them to be found or for them to come walking through the door. Watching the family deal with the disappearance of a loved one took me back to when my friend Les disappeared; it will be five years in January. It is difficult to imagine something as violent as what happened to Susie could have happened to Les. I stopped watching Without a Trace, which she and I often watched together. Her mother on the other hand, started obsessively watching shows like Cold Case Files looking for clues which might help her solve her own daughter’s disappearance. The most surreal moment in my life, I was with Marilyn, Les’s mom, in a wooded area just outside of Lawrence. She had a “feeling” much like Jack did about Mr. Harvey, that Les was in the woods. I was walking around this wooded area looking for a dead body. The thought kept creping in…“I am walking around looking for a dead body.” I found myself praying we wouldn’t find her and then feeling guilty at my selfishness. But who does that? Who goes into the woods looking for a dead body?
I enjoyed the book. I felt excited and nervous at times. I used to read true crime novels, they were so graphic and disturbing, but I thought if I read them, I could get my mind around the concept of the crimes. I was never successful at this and eventually gave up because I felt so depressed by the facts I read and the stories stayed with me in my sleep and sometimes throughout the day. They made me untrusting and suspicious; which I decided is no way to live your life. The Lovely Bones brought back these emotions but left me at peace at the end, the way only fiction can; real life doesn’t have a happy ending.
I truly enjoyed Mr. Harvey’s death scene. I was so nervous and upset when I thought he was going to kill again. And then so amused by his death by icicle, exactly as Lindsey would have wanted it. Too bad the news did not make it back to the family.
Even without the personal ties to the plot; Sebold’s writing is very powerful, you become a part of the characters’ lives and feel as if you know them. She draws you into the book and makes you feel you are a part of the story.
