The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones
By Alice Sebold / Lit. Fiction / Hardcover / 336 pages
Grade: A+

“My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.”

While I was still enrolled at the CPC in New York, I came back to Jersey to visit a few friends for lunch in our little suburban downtown, Metuchen. While there, we went into The Raconteur, our beloved indie book store and cultural hub, where I picked up a used hardcover of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones.

Only a couple of chapters into the book, I expected something good; it wasn’t until half-way that I realized I was in for something great. From Sebold’s writing style to the amazingly balanced yet intricate plot to the impact of the overall reading experience, The Lovely Bones delivers literary fiction at its finest. It is narrated by a 14-year-old girl who has been raped and killed, and is now experiencing Earth from heaven. Her language and resolve are rich with an understanding that only a young girl can demonstrate, but there is also an empathic wisdom present in her storytelling. She watches with growing desire at what her family goes through after her death, all the while coming to terms, herself, with the way she passed on and the fate of her killer.

There are themes in this story that vividly and believably portray the loss of innocence, the push-and-pulls of growing up, the true meanings of love and friendship, and the seemingly nonsensical reasons for why love fades away. Sebold ties all of these into a tightly woven plot, which is really comprised of several very well put together and interweaving subplots that follow different characters. You’ll be surprised at how well connected these character paths are.

The book is great, without a doubt, but I didn’t give it an A+ just because of its superbly written scenes, its affectional characters, or Holiday, Susie’s awesome dog. It was because The Lovely Bones does not try to be any more than it’s meant to be; it brings out the wonder in even the simplest things. That’s what true literature is all about.

-Ray