The Lovely Bones

I picked up this book at the library this week because I'd heard so much praise and acclaim about it when it first came out several years ago. The plot itself is interesting, and the author (Alice Sebold) is quite an incredible writer. The story is that of a young girl, Susie, who watches the life events of her family, friends, and other strangers from "heaven" after having been raped and murdered at fourteen years old. Interesting concept, to be sure. Susie's death throws her family into a tempest of emotions and places them on a path that alters their relationships with each other and with the outside world in a manner in which the family could never imagine. Susie's friends are left to understand the loss- each using a very different method of coping. Sebold does a magnificent job of character development, drawing the reader further into understanding as she peels back the inner thoughts and dreams of characters layer by layer.

Not surprisingly, the theology of The Lovely Bones is lacking. But I don't think the novel is in any way speaking to any argument concerning Heaven, Hell, and spirits among the living. Rather, the story is all about relationships between people, how we are connected to one another. Sebold focuses on human nature and how we react and cope with the challenges and surprises which life doles out and how something we think is insignificant can impact our lives in significant way. Read the novel thinking about that concept, rather than from a strictly theological concept, and I think you will enjoy the story.