The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.
"My name was Salmon, like the
fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on
December 6, 1973."
Susie looks down at the family from her heaven, living through them
the life that she couldn't have. She watched as her family grieved
and fell apart from the loss, watched as her mother left, watched
her father and sister try to find her murderer, watched her
siblings growing up and finding love. For seven to eight years, it
was not only time for each of them attempt to grapple with the fact
that Susie was gone forever, it was also for Susie herself to
realize that it was time to let go. Ironically, though her death
seemed to have caused her family to fall apart, it really allowed
them to see the family as it was.
Susie's death did not just affect her and her family. It affected
her friends, those who knew her and those in her neighbourhood, in
ways not imaginable. It pulled together people who would have been
nothing more than acquaintances and changed the lives of many
several years down the road.
The book encompasses 8 years of grief, sorrow and happiness packed
into 328 pages. It shows how even if situations may seem hopeless,
it is still possible to have hopes and dreams which just might come
true one day.
I cried my way through 5 pieces of tissue paper while reading this
book.
