Hauntingly Lovely

It has been awhile since I wrote a review, so I thought that I would do that today. This time it is about a book that I finished a couple of days back.

I used to be so good at reading books – I used to get sucked into them and would sit, reading, for hours until eventually the book was finished. Nothing could stop me – not school, not work, nothing. I don’t read like that anymore. I tend to read about a chapter a night while I am in the bath, less if I have to have a quick one (and yes, I know that I should shower rather than bath, but after a year of Korean showers, this is a necessary luxury for me). I occasionally read when travelling, but aside from these moments, I tend to watch TV or play computer games over reading. These are terrible excuses, but it is the truth of the matter, and this is why it took my almost a month to read Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones.

You have to understand that the month that it took me to read the book should not be taken as any judgement on the book itself. I absolutely adored it, so much so that I would spend far longer in the bath than was sensible poring over its pages. The water would get cold, my toes would go all pruny, I would (sigh, gasp) have to add extra hot water just to keep me going so that I could carry on reading. My boyfriend would come looking for me thinking that I had drowned. No, baby. I’m okay. I’m just reading.

For those of you who do not know the story of The Lovely Bones, it is about a young girl, Susie Salmon, who is murdered in the 60’s. The story is told from her perspective, looking down from what is essentially purgatory, as she watches how her murder (at first thought to just be a kidnapping) affects her family and her murderer, who happens to be her neighbour. She watches from above as life goes on, and describes the comings and goings of both the real world and the world that she finds herself in.

More than a murder mystery, the mystery of who murdered her, a question that is answered right from the get-go, is replaced with the mystery of what happens after life, after death, after everything that you love is taken away from you.

The Lovely Bones is a gem of a book and is going to be taking a prominent position on my bookshelf as soon as I have lent it to a friend of mine who I know is going to love it. I am sure that if you are reading this, you know just who you are ;)