Lovely Bones for Amanda T.

Hi Amanda! You are so well-read that you may have already read this book. But I thought that since you liked the literary qualities of The Red Tent, you would also enjoy the gorgeous words of this moving book, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. It's a sad book, but it's beautiful. It's from the point of view of a little girl who is murdered and watches what transpires down on earth from her new location in heaven. Sometimes it's devastatingly frustrating for her, as she can only watch but not influence anyone to realize who her killer was. She watches as her family breaks apart with the stress of her murder infultratrating their every move.

What I found most moving about this book was the depiction of "heaven". There was a time in my life (and even now) when I was fascinated with how different authors/people/religious scholars viewed the afterlife. Was there one? How would heaven look? Could the deceased still see us on earth? I thought this depiction was a very viable one. The deceased see a heaven atmosphere that comforts and appeals specifically to them. And they watch earth for however many years it takes for them to accept that they're not on earth anymore. That acceptance could take ten years of more. After that they transcend somewhere else. I found it to be a heartwarming, inspiring novel. Hope you enjoy it too!