The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

This book has been on the New York Times best seller list for a long time. I thought it might be good. Well it's written in the same vein as The Bridges of Madison County and geared toward readers with an 8th grade education. The premise is rather interesting - what a person's heaven is all about - so the reader is forced to suspend belief pretty early in the book. The characters were fairly well developed. Although I had trouble understanding why the owner of the Motorcycle shop would want to hang out with the old grandma. I imagine it's popularity arises from the fact that a lot of people wish that their dead friends and relatives really do look down from a "heaven." And according to the book - pets also. If you were a 13 year old Christian, you would probably enjoy this book.

The hook of this longtime best seller was very interesting to me and it worked. I got hooked, and was able to suspend reality and track with the narrator of the story being dead and in heaven. Anyone who has a child will be completely drawn in by this study of the loss and subsequent grieving of a dead child. It handled a very sensitive and delicate topic with harsh reality, although at times provided humor and intrigue. The Grandmother stood out as a quirky, entertaining character. She was written like one of the characters from Ya Ya Sisterhood. I found it interesting and at the same time disappointing that she did not judge her daughter for abandoning the surviving members of the family, as she became the glue to hold the shattered pieces together. Overall, it was an enjoyable, easy read until the end when I was asked to suspend belief a second time and believe that the narrator was able to morph back onto earth in the body of a friend so she could experience sex....I just couldn't buy into it. Seabolt needs to work on her endings, but she has promise.