The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

I just finished reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold last Friday. The weekend earlier my sis had recommended it to me, after telling me about the upcoming film adaptation. The movie is directed by Peter Jackson, and is due out at the end of the year. I’ll admit that the association of an A-list director with the story piqued my interest. So my sis pulled out her copy of the book and handed it over to me. It doesn’t take much to get me interested in reading a book, but I did read the back cover before deciding to turn its pages immediately instead of putting it in a “maybe” pile.

The Lovely Bones tells its story in an unconventional way. The story is narrated by the – shall we say – spirit of a teenaged girl who has been raped and murdered, and now watches her family, friends and even her murderer from her personal heaven. The entire novel is narrated by our protagonist, Susie Salmon – no, not Simon; like the fish – from her unrestricted vantage point above us in heaven. The free-floating nature of our protagonist allows the narrative voice to follow any and all characters through space and time, but we are still giving gentle reminders that the narrator and the protagonist are one and the same. Susie’s viewpoint sprinkles our study of the world, and we get a sense for her priorities and her emotional stake in the characters we – both reader and narrator – observe.

This is not a whodunit, since we know from the very beginning who Susie’s murderer is. Neither is this a tale of vengeance or otherworldly retribution, although, in one delicious piece of foreshadowing, there is room for interpretation in the role played by that “perfect murder” weapon. In fact, when Susie is granted the chance to impart damning and conclusive evidence that would catch her killer, she instead indulges in those pleasures denied her by circumstance of her death.

No, this is not a mystery waiting to be solved. This is a tale about grief, and moving on, and how different people deal with loss as individuals, as a family, as a community. Those left on Earth aren’t the only ones coming to terms with the abrupt ending of a life. Susie, too, has her own journey wherein she has to accept her condition and that those she loved will also need to move on with their lives.

The Lovely Bones is a powerful novel, and its message creeps up on us as it does our protagonist. Susie and her family discover through the period of the novel that unexpected loss happens, and the only way past it is to remember those still with us. It is a good lesson for us, the reader. Honour those we have lost by living our lives to the fullest.

I’ll end this review by echoing Susie’s parting words to us, the reader: “I wish you all a long and happy life.”