Alice Sebold's debut novel, The Lovely Bones, first came out in 2002 and became the biggest-selling novel of the year. This paperback edition came out in September 30, 2009. The recently released movie was directed and produced by Peter Jackson and stars Saoirsie Ronan (previously in Atonement), Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weitz, Mark Wahlberg, and Stanley Tucci.
"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. In newspaper photos of missing girls from the seventies, most looked like me: white girls with mousy brown hair. This was before kids of all races and genders started appearing on milk cartons or in the daily mail. It was still back when people believed things like that didn't happen."
- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
This is how we first meet young Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, which is turning out to be different from what she'd expected.
Her life hasn't ended with her death. Susie is still haunted by her killer and she returns to Earth to watch him and to look in on those she loves. Her younger sister Lindsay copes with the sympathetic murmurs and inquisitive glances by toughening up. Her baby brother Buckley keeps asking when she'll be back. While her father struggles to find her killer, her mother starts to drift away.
As she visits Earth, Susie continues to grow into herself, exploring, learning, and always keeping her sense of humor. Suzie is drawn to Ruth, a quirky and brilliant schoolmate that she'd encountered during her last moments. And Suzie is intimately aware of Ray Singh, whom she had been falling in love with, the only boy that she'd kissed.
You may expect the story of a young girl who was raped and murdered to be intense and depressing but The Lovely Bones will surprise you with its humor, celebration of life, and beauty. It's a book that I read through the night. Satisfying and delightful, The Lovely Bones was one of my favorite books of the year.
Publisher: Back Bay Books; 1 Mti Rep edition (September 30, 2009), 368 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
About the Author, courtesy of the publisher:
Alice Sebold is the author of three #1 bestselling books, the novels The Lovely Bones and The Almost Moon and the memoir Lucky. She lives in California with her husband, the novelist Glen David Gold.
To read an interview of Alice Sebold about the journey of writing The Lovely Bones, visit the Hatchette site at http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/Alice_Sebold_(1003757)_AuthorInterview(1).aspx
.jpeg?picon=2968)
By: gaby317,
on 11/10/2009
Blog: Starting Fresh (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Hatchette Book Group, Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, Add a tag
morceaudelalune - confirmed
alannakurt - confirmed
lizzi0915 - confirmed
kimikaio - confirmed
Congratulations! I've emailed the winners and they have until 6 pm on Thursday to respond. Thanks for participating! Thanks so much to Valerie and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!
By: gaby317,
on 10/29/2009
Blog: Starting Fresh (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, Hatchette Book Group, Jacqueline Leo, Seven: The Number for Happiness, and Success, Numerology, Seven, Add a tag
I actually signed up to review this book because my younger brother is convinced that 7 is his lucky number. He was born on the 7th of the month in 1977 and has a wonderfully pleasant temperament. It's because of him that I'd like to find out more about the number 7 and whether it does have any relationship to happiness, love and success.
If you're reading this, then you must share some of my curiosity.
About the Book, courtesy of the Publisher:
What is it about the number seven that has such a hold on us? Why are there seven deadly sins? Seven days of the week? Seven wonders of the world, seven colors of the spectrum, seven ages of man, and seven sister colleges? Why can we hold seven numbers or words in our working memory--but no more? Author Jackie Leo explores everything about this mystical, magical, useful, and fun number in her new book.
SEVEN REASONS YOU NEED THIS BOOK
1. SEVEN is a tool to improve the quality of your life. It is a way to define time, synthesize ideas, and keep your mind performing at top speed in an era of distractions.
2. SEVEN is culturally significant. It pops up everywhere, structuring our world in ways so fundamental, we notice them only when we pause to look. Across the ages and across cultures, the number has acquired a huge scientific, psychological, and religious significance.
3. SEVEN is intriguing. Why, out of hundreds of recipes in a cookbook, do people return to the same seven, over and over? Why, when asked to choose a number between one and ten, does such a large majority of people choose seven? Why does it take seven rounds of shuffling to obtain a fully mixed deck of cards?
4. SEVEN is influential. You'll learn how the number seven shapes our thinking, our choices, and even our relationships.
5. SEVEN is practical. Throughout this book are Top Seven lists covering the best ways to get someone's attention, to build your personal brand, and to put yourself in the path of prosperity and good luck.
6. SEVEN is fun. You'll encounter surprising facts, intriguing puzzles, and hilarious anecdotes.
7. SEVEN is wise. You'll hear stories about the meaning of seven from Mehmet Oz, Sally Quinn, Liz Smith, Christina Ricci, and many others.
Artfully designed and full of enough insights to keep you engaged in conversation at the water cooler for years, SEVEN will provoke, enlighten, and amuse.
About the Author, courtesy of the Publisher:
Media guru Jacqueline Leo has held a number of high-level positions in publishing and television. She founded and launched Child magazine in 1986, and went on to be editor in chief of Family Circle magazine and editorial director of the New York Times Women's Magazine Group, where she launched Fitness magazine. She was senior producer and editorial director of Good Morning America, editorial director for Consumer Reports, and vice president and editor in chief of Reader's Digest. She is currently director of digital operations for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. She lives in New York City.
CONTEST DETAILS
To enter, please tell us why you'd like this book.
Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.
The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at 7pm on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!
By: gaby317,
on 10/2/2009
Blog: Starting Fresh (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, Add a tag
"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."
So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, The Lovely Bones succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.
Alice Sebold is the author of three #1 bestselling books, the novels The Lovely Bones and The Almost Moon and the memoir Lucky. She lives in California with her husband, the novelist Glen David Gold. To read an interview of Alice Sebold about the journey of writing The Lovely Bones, visit the Hatchette site at http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/Alice_Sebold_(1003757)_AuthorInterview(1).aspx
- In Susie's Heaven, she is surrounded by things that bring her peace. What would your Heaven be like? Is it surprising that in Susie's inward, personal version of the hereafter there is no God or larger being that presides?
- Why does Ruth become Susie's main connection to Earth? Was it accidental that Susie touched Ruth on her way up to Heaven, or was Ruth actually chosen to be Susie's emotional conduit?
- Rape is one of the most alienating experiences imaginable. Susie's rape ends in murder and changes her family and friends forever. Alienation is transferred, in a sense, to Susie's parents and siblings. How do they each experience loneliness and solitude after Susie's death?
- Why does the author include details about Mr. Harvey's childhood and his memories of his mother? By giving him a human side, does Sebold get us closer to understanding his motivation? Sebold explained in an interview about the novel that murderers "are not animals but men," and that is what makes them so frightening. Do you agree?
- Discuss the way in which guilt manifests itself in the various characters - Jack, Abigail, Lindsay, Mr. Harvey, Len Fenerman.
- "Pushing on the inbetween" is how Susie describes her efforts to connect with those she has left behind on Earth. Have you ever felt as though someone was trying to communicate with you from "the inbetween"?
- Does Buckley really see Susie, or does he make up a version of his sister as a way of understanding, and not being too emotionally damaged by, her death? How do you explain tragedy to a child? Do you think Susie's parents do a good job of helping Buckley comprehend the loss of his sister?
- Susie is killed just as she was beginning to see her mother and father as real people, not just as parents. Watching her parents' relationship change in the wake of her death, she begins to understand how they react to the world and to each other. How does this newfound understanding affect Susie?
- Can Abigail's choice to leave her family be justified?
- Why does Abigail leave her dead daughter's photo outside the Chicago Airport on her way back to her family?
- Susie observes that "The living deserve attention, too." She watches her sister, Lindsay, being neglected as those around her focus all their attention on grieving for Susie. Jack refuses to allow Buckley to use Susie's clothes in his garden. When is it time to let go?
- Susie's Heaven seems to have different stages, and climbing to the next stage of Heaven requires her to remove herself from what happens on Earth. What is this process like for Susie?
- In The Lovely Bones, adult relationships (Abigail and Jack, Ray's parents) are dysfunctional and troubled, whereas the young relationships (Lindsay and Samuel, Ray and Susie, Ray and Ruth) all seem to have depth, maturity, and potential. What is the author saying about young love? About the trials and tribulations of married life?
- Is Jack Salmon allowing himself to be swallowed up by his grief? Is there a point where he should have let go? How does his grief process affect his family? Is there something admirable about holding on so tightly to Susie's memory and not denying his profound sadness?
- Ray and Susie's final physical experience (via Ruth's body) seems to act almost as an exorcism that sweeps away, if only temporarily, Susie's memory of her rape. What is the significance of this act for Susie, and does it serve to counterbalance the violent act that ended Susie's life?
- Alice Sebold seems to be saying that out of tragedy comes healing. Susie's family fractures and comes back together, a town learns to find strength in each other. Do you agree that good can come of great trauma?
To enter, please share your favorite movie adaptation of a book.
Rules:
Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address and answer, no entry. The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 6, 2009.
Thank you so much to Valerie and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!
This is one of my all-time favorite books. I can't decide if I want to see the movie or not. I don't know how it would live up to the book for me.