Alice Sebold's novel The Lovely Bones sold over a million copies when it was released in 2002. This week, the book returns to the spotlight in a film adaptation by Peter Jackson, the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The Lovely Bones centers on the story of Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl looking down from heaven after her own rape and murder. Sebold is not an author to shy away from tough topics. One of the first lines of the novel would qualify, in most stories, as a spoiler: "I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Susie clings to her earthly life while trying to accept her death, and she narrates her story from beyond the grave, watching her family struggle with grief and her murderer evade detection.
This interview was originally broadcast July 10, 2002.
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