Glad I gave in!

It's a story that is all too prevalent in society: the sudden and total disappearance of an individual. We hear, read and see stories in the news, of the missing person, the search parties, the neighborhood coming together in support, the person found, sometimes alive, sadly, more often not, and sometimes gone forever. Time passes, the story fades away, another is unfortunately always ready to takes its place, and people forget that those close to the missing person still must continue to exist without their loved one.

Because of these disturbing real life stories, I admit, for years I have been reluctant to read Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. For the few people unfamiliar with this modern classic novel, the plot focuses on Suzie Salmon ("like the fish"), who is brutally murdered by a neighbor at the age of fourteen. However, unlike in the media, her personal story does not end there: the book is told in first person narrative by Suzie herself. She watches the members of her family (parents, younger siblings and grandmother) and her friends cope with her disappearance, through the initial shock, their suspicions, and their ability, or disability, to let go and move on. We see them break apart from one another, and within themselves, trying to heal in their own ways. Some reach out for help, while others find solitude easier, even if it means hurting other survivors.

What struck me about The Lovely Bones is how Sebold manages to write such a heartbreaking story and infuse it with hope, perseverance and, yes, even some levity. Suzie's grandmother Lynn, an impeccably dressed, alcohol dependent, tell-it-like-it-is woman, particularly adds lightness, despite her harsh manner and words, as does Ruth, the schoolmate who swears she saw Suzie's ghost near where she was murdered.

The film version of The Lovely Bones is due out early next year. I don't know how the book will transfer to film, how Suzie's version of heaven will be achieved, but hopefully it will do this wonderful book justice.