Summary
"The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold is a fiction novel. In the beginning of the novel, a fourteen year old girl named Susie Salmon is murdered in a cornfield while walking home from school. This story is told from Susie's point of view. When we first meet Susie in the beginning, she is already in “heaven” looking down on her family members telling the story of her life. She was murdered by her strange neighbor, Mr. Harvey. In her heaven, she meets Franny and Holly, who become her friends and roommates. She learns that the place she is in is not actually heaven, but “the inbetween” of heaven and earth. Her family is torn apart by her death. Her parents become distant from each other and hide their feelings about her death. Her father, Jack Salmon, is determined to find her murderer throughout the novel. Jack often sits in his den all day, distant from his family, searching for answers about Susie’s murder. He suspects it is the neighbor Mr. Harvey because of his encounter he had with him. Susie’s mother, Abigail Salmon, cannot take being in the house without Susie anymore, and Jack constantly investigating Susie’s case, so she leaves. She moves to California for a few years. While Abigail is away, Grandma Lynn watches her children. Susie’s brother, Buckley Salmon, sees Susie appear in his room often. Her sister, Lindsey Salmon, helps her father investigate Susie’s case. She learns that her father suspects Mr. Harvey killed Susie. She helps him get evidence from Mr. Harvey’s house. Susie watches Lindsey experience everything she cannot from heaven. Her friends at school are also affected by her death. Ray Singh, her first love, is accused of murdering Susie, because she was carrying a note he gave her. The police quickly ruled him out. Ruth Connors, a girl at Susie’s school, was touched by Susie as her soul left earth. She thinks about Susie a lot after that and afterlife. Susie then realizes that if she wants to go to the “real” heaven, she must let go of her past life on Earth.
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Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones. Boston: Little, Brown, 2002. Print.
Lee, Daniel. The Lovely Bones Book Cover. Photograph. n.d. "Hachette Book Group." Hachettebookgroup.com. Web. 04 March 2015. <http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alice-sebold/the-lovely-bones/9780316666343/>.