Lucky by Alice Sebold: A Book Review with some Questions?

When a book has the following as the first sentence:

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie."

It sure does get your attention, it did mine anyway.

Because from the very first line author Alice Sebold makes it clear the main character, Susi Salmon, is no longer living. In the book, The Lovely Bones, I instantly bonded with 14-year old Susie Salmon because of her innocence and sweetness. I just loved her and as the narrator of the book she was vibrant and descriptive and funny, but she was dead. Early on in the book I knew how she died, a horrible death that still leaves me cold inside, but I found myself wishing I didn’t know she was dead. My reasoning behind this is I wanted the chance to think she could not be dead, so I could have some relief; so I could hope. Maybe they’ll find her, maybe she’ll escape – Nope! I knew she was dead and as the reader, it was heartbreaking to deal with her parents search efforts and belief that maybe they would find her alive.

I was very taken by the book, The Lovely Bones, but truth be told, this is the only book I’ve every thrown away. Once I finished it, I didn’t leave it on my bookshelf like a trophy, I didn’t offer it to family and friends like I do other books I read, I threw it in my outdoor black city garbage can because I never wanted to think about such horrible things again. The book itself was a visual of something I never wanted to remember again.

Although . . .

I will say I was very intrigued by the author, Alice Sebold. Who was she? As a writer, how did she get to such a dark place? Was she herself Susie Salmon; young innocent rape victim?

As a writer myself, I had I to do some research and I found a book I had to read: Lucky, Alice Sebold’s experiences of being raped and how the experience shaped the rest of her life.

(image found here)

Why the title Lucky? Because when she reported the crime to the police, they remarked that a young woman had once been murdered in the same location. Thus, they told her, she was "lucky." Lucky had me hooked from the start. Ms. Sebold so graciously allows the reader into her mind. She doesn’t hide what happened to her, she doesn’t sugar-coat it and she never apologizes for the vulgarity of it. So, I have to ask myself; is this how she was able to write as rape/murder victim Susie Salmon? Do authors need to have some sort of personal experience to be able to write the stories they want to share?  In other words, can I write about something I've never personally experienced myself?

I’ve thought about his more then once. When I read the“Twilight” series, I remember thinking Stephenie Meyer must of have had a pretty healthy childhood. No mention of abuse or trauma. Bella is never looking back at a difficult life. Other then Bella’s parents divorce, we don’t know much about Bella “pre-Edward”. I’m convinced Ms. Meyer is a hopeless romantic who wanted to write a powerful love story and that’s most certainly what she did. Ms. Meyer needed to write, but not for the same reason Ms. Sebold needed to write or maybe the reason doesn't matter because both authors found what they were looking for: an escape.

Still, I think writing is so therapeutic for the author. When I write on my YA novels, I get to explore shady places, reveal deep inner-thoughts and travel places we’ve never been. In fiction, I don’t have to reveal my sources unless I want to. I commend Alice Sebold for her accomplishments in The Lovely Bones and Lucky. Both stories needed be told. Ms. Sebold took a risk, she put her heart on the line in hopes to help other rape victims, and for this, I thank her. She shared a difficult story that took hold of the reader’s heart. So now I know. When I was reading The Lovely Bones, I wasn’t just rooting for fictional character Susie Salmon, I was rooting for the very real Ms. Sebold’s justice as well.

The Lovely Bones

Image found here.

The Lovely Bones is the only book I’ve ever read that I threw away the moment I finished it. While reading it I wanted to run away and hide from what was happening in the story, but once I started it I knew I had to finish. Reading it is a journey worth taking, but it’s difficult. Be prepared to do some heavy soul-searching. And if you’ve been sexually abused, like 3 out of 4 girls in America, be prepared to relieve a bit of your awful memories.

The Lovely Bones forced me to find faith in a pitiful and hopeless situation. This was not easy to do, but Alice Sebold has a gift because at the end of the book I did find some sort of peace.

Photograph of author Alice Sebold found here.

Sebold writes about rape and murder in the same time-line as heaven and second chances. I don’t know how she did this, but I have an idea she’s probably lived through some tragedy herself.

On the first page of the novel, I learned that 14-year old Susie Salmon has just been raped and murdered by her neighbor. From page 1, there’s no chance this girl will be found alive, no likelihood that she’ll escape her capture. This reality is difficult to swallow and at times seems horribly unfair, but this is Susie’s story to tell. Throughout the book she lives between heaven and earth; helping her family solve the mystery of her death while trying to understand why this happened to her. Susie still has dreams and regrets, a crush on a boy from school and an unwavering love for her family. Watching her dad suffer is the hardest of all. She feels an obligation to make things right again, especially for him.

And her murderer? She visits him and sees inside his twisted mind. She sees the other girls he’s raped and murdered and in one horrible scene, she stares at her own bones.

It doesn’t leave you feeling warm and fuzzy, does it?

When The Lovely Bones came out as a movie, I knew I had to see it, but with the counselor by my side of course. He was there, when I started crying the first minute of the movie. He helped me through it, like he’s helped me through so many other emotional journeys. Men need to see this movie too. They need to understand how fragile the world is for a girl who’s trapped in abuse, any form of abuse. They need to reach out and help the girl who lives in a world where she is threatened just because she’s a girl.

Image found here.

The Lovely Bones may not have been the best movie to see while expecting our first girl, but it was a good dose of reality. I appreciate the symbolism in various writing styles and I had to see Sebold’s words adapted to film.

Sebold’s writing is perfect therapy for a girl or woman who’s been raped or sexually abused. It dissects almost every conceivable emotion and feeling a girl might have after going through such a terrible experience. It asks “what if” questions all over the place.

And if you’ve never been sexually abused, it will heighten your senses and force you to look at your surroundings a little differently. I think this book will save hundreds, if not thousands of girls from sexual abuse. It may even change some perpetrator from doing something awful.

And I guess that’s the peace I found in the end.