"The Lovely Bones"

by Alice Sebold, 2002, 328p, rating=4.5   **SPOILER ALERT**

Wow, the beginning was hard to stomach!  I've got a daughter (and sons) and ... nightmare, nightmare, nightmare!!!  Rape, murder, ... I had to put the book down for a moment.  Then it was a careful read from there on.  I wanted to see how this awful man would be put to justice.  I expected it, heck, if I could I'd jump into the book and k--- him myself!! ... Give me a moment, I think I'm going to throw up!

I'm glad the author took the book to a higher level than just making sure the assailant die a horrible death (brilliant, btw!).  Ms Sebold instead concentrated on the effects of loss.  The cruelty of having to live un-whole.  A strain so overwhelming that something had to give.  Also, Ms Sebold told a tale of what one's heaven might be like.  Overall, a lot of pain and suffering but also some growing up in fun and happiness.  An incredible book after getting through the beginning (though that too was brilliant ... get to it from the start and move on).

Here, Susie Salmon, 14yo, was brutally raped and murdered.  In the heaven she is now in, she is able to hover over her family, friends, and assailant's life on earth.  She witnesses the fall and rise of her family's affairs.  She follows her clairvoyant friend and re-connects with a boy.  She discovers her murderer's past.  In the end, she was happy.