To Become Family Again
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Suzy was murdered. Can we become family again without her?
This bestseller has been sold over 2 million copies in America, and a movie based on this novel was also released. You can see many critical acclaims from media inside the cover. So I prepared myself not to be moved by this book; I didn't want to just fall for those praises. It worked at first. I didn't like the novel, and was ready to throw the book away. Then the book got me. Now I know why people were raving about this book. And I'd like to add my praise to all that.
It's not a secret that the narrator of this book is a dead girl; It's revealed in the first sentence of the book. Suzy Salmon. She was raped and murdered at the age of 14. This novel shows how Suzy was killed, and who the murderer was in the first part of the novel. But reality is quite different from CSI dramas. The police had trouble with finding clues about the culprit, and now the whole family tried to find and capture the murderer. While they were busy investigating the case, without their knowing it, there was nothing much left to call them a family. And Suzy, who stayed Inbetween - a kind of place between the heaven and the earth - could see how her family was falling apart before her own eyes. After they had been crumbled down, they tried to rebuild the family with their love and support from each other. I know this sentence is a cliche, but I can't find more proper one to describe this book.
After Suzy was killed, the family had to face another war they didn't know exist.: how to live as the family of a victim.
Of everyone in the family, it was Lindsey who had to deal with what Holly called the Walking Dead Syndrome – when other people see the dead person and don’t see you.
When people looked at Lindsey, even my father and mother, they saw me. Even Lindsey was not immune. She avoided mirrors. She now took her showers in the dark. (p. 59)
Suspecting a neighbor as the murderer, younger sister Lindsey sneaked into his house and stole a painting that might be a clue. But her mother, who'd been sick with all the failing attempts to solve the case, didn't even bother to see the painting.
“I’m going to pick up Buckley,” my mother said.
“Don’t you even want to look at this, Mom?”
“I don’t know what to say. Your grandmother is here. I have shopping to do, a bird to cook. No one seems to realize that we have a family. We have a family, a family and a son, and I’m going.” (p. 184)
They have a family, a family and a son. Even though her daughter was dead, she still had to go shopping, prepare meals, and eat them. Children should go to school, and she had to pick them up when school's over. Parents had to take care of the family. Even though their daughter was dead.
Image Source: Goodreads
When there's a murder case, people tend to focus on the hideous killing details or the victims. And they're talking about how we should capture the murderer and punish them. Many criminal dramas such as CSI are showing how to investigate and catch the criminals. But is that all? Catch the criminals, and the case closed, justice served, everybody happy?
It's needless to say that we must find out who committed such a crime and punish them. It can defintely reduce another crimes by potential criminals. And the family of the victim can see some justice served. But could they rest easy? Even if the murderer was caught, got sentenced for life or death penalty, or even if they caught them in person, tortured and killed them to revenge, they cannot change the past. Regardless of the culprit's whereabouts, it's the family members who have to live with the loss and shock that their loved ones are dead.
This book tells you the story of the family of victim: Suzy's parents, sister Lindsey, baby brother Buckley. How they cried, weathered the storm, and most of all, how they start to love and live again as a family.
I also liked it that this book shows Suzy's feelings, how she missed and finally understood her family. To her, it must have felt like she's the only one who survived and lost all family members.
When my father’s car pulled into the drive, I was beginning to wonder if this had been what I’d been waiting for, for my family to come home, not to me anymore but to one another with me gone. (p. 316)
Title: The Lovely Bones
Author: Alice Sebold
Note: A movie with the same title based on this novel was released.
