Christina Reviews *The Lovely Bones* by Alice Sebold

         “It was that day that I knew I wanted to tell the story of my family. Because horror on Earth is real and it is every day. It is like a flower or like the sun; it cannot be contained (Sebold, 186).”
　
         The Lovely Bones is narrated by 14 year old Susie Salmon. Susie is dead. She was raped and murdered by a neighbor on December 6, 1973. This is not a spoiler. In fact, she names her killer on the second page. This is not a whodunnit novel. It is a story about the tragedy of Susie's death and the healing process as her family moves on without her. It’s about Susie’s journey to find peace, even though she is dead and beyond mortal pain.

        The ghost narrator has been done before but what makes this book truly remarkable is the way in which it takes a horrible event --- the brutal rape and murder of a child --- and uses it as a catalyst for a story about love and the bonds of family and the resilience of the human spirit.

        I wouldn’t say that the novel was perfect. For example, there was one scene near the end of the book where Susie gets a chance to fulfill her ultimate wish, and it’s incredibly contrived and a little too out there for me.

       But overall, this was a beautiful story, despite the grim subject matter.