The Lovely Bones

First of all let me say that this book isn't about happy endings. Sadly most stories in life don’t have happy endings and this is what the author, Alice Sebold was trying to tell us. The Lovely Bones is about how the Salmon’s family’s world was turned upside down one winter night when their eldest daughter, Susie, disappears on her way home from school.
With next-to-nothing clues to go on, her father becomes obsessed with the neighbor who he thinks did it. The mother drowns her sorrow into escaping from the family. Lindsey, the sister, has to endure the stigma of being the murdered girl's sister and Buck, the baby, has to endure everyone's loss as well as his. Not only does Susie's death affect her family, it affects two of the people she knew in life, her first love and a friend she barely knew.

Written from Susie's point of view as she observes life on earth from heaven, it is written in a very touching way. This book should have come with a warning on the front cover; "Kleenexes are necessary while reading this book." It is haunting, and the sorrow lingers long after the last page has been turned. This novel is about how people deal with grief and how they move on in spite of the death of a loved one. It is about letting go and remembering. It is about life and death. In spite of its premises, it really isn't a book about revenge. It is about life.

I would definitely recommend you read The Lovely Bones, more so now since the movie based on the novel hits theaters on December 11, 2009.