The Almost Moon

I'm sure that many of you remember the popular 2002 novel, The Lovely Bones and the movie adaptation of the same title that was released in 2009. You may also remember a later novel by Alice Sebold called, The Almost Moon. This book received a lot of negative response, and even so, I've been planning to read it since it was first released.

The Almost Moon cuts right to the chase. The story's main character, Helen Knightly immediately informs us that she has just killed her elderly mother. As the story builds we learn of Helen's long-suffering devotion to her parents and adult children. It's from this that Alice Sebold builds us a picture of what Helen's childhood home was like and all the trials she withstood in her adolescence because of her parents' mental illness.

I think the main reason that this book is so widely abhorred is that readers just can't relate to, much less sympathize with a woman who would commit patricide. It's because of this that I believe Almost Moon is for a very small audience that can understand that it isn't a story about a woman who kills her mother, it's the story of a girl who suffers being raised by a mother who is unable to care for herself, much less her daughter.

I would love to hear what you think of this book and my review of it, as well as others. Feel free to contact me by email or on Instagram.