Stephanie Jane reviewed The almost moon by Alice Sebold
An uncomfortable book to read
3 stars
Our friend Marta passed on her copy of The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold to us. A bizarre story which is very different from Sebold's debut novel, The Lovely Bones, I can understand why there are such widely varying reviews of The Almost Moon. This isn't a comfortable book to read. It confronts some of the worst of human behaviour in a way that doesn't allow readers to shrink away from what these characters are doing and have done. Moreover, I don't think that anyone is likeable. On the first page we witness Helen murdering her elderly helpless mother and the shock of such a powerful start reverberates through the following twenty-four hours of story.
Both Dave and I have read The Almost Moon and, I believe, have pretty similar views. We loved the actual writing throughout the novel. The prose isn't always grammatically perfect, but it flows at a …
Our friend Marta passed on her copy of The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold to us. A bizarre story which is very different from Sebold's debut novel, The Lovely Bones, I can understand why there are such widely varying reviews of The Almost Moon. This isn't a comfortable book to read. It confronts some of the worst of human behaviour in a way that doesn't allow readers to shrink away from what these characters are doing and have done. Moreover, I don't think that anyone is likeable. On the first page we witness Helen murdering her elderly helpless mother and the shock of such a powerful start reverberates through the following twenty-four hours of story.
Both Dave and I have read The Almost Moon and, I believe, have pretty similar views. We loved the actual writing throughout the novel. The prose isn't always grammatically perfect, but it flows at a great pace which makes The Almost Moon a page-turner. I loved Sebold's evocative descriptions and her ability to allow her readers right up close to the family's madness. From questioning Helen's sanity, I began to understand why she might have been driven to such an extreme act by the decades of provocation she endured. Looking back over her childhood allowed us to see the folie a deux of her parents, her mother's extreme agrophobia which alienated the neighbourhood, and - in a powerful scene - the pathetic poignancy of the figures in her father's sanctuary.
What spoilt this book for me though and the reason why I have only given an on-the-fence three stars is that some of the behaviours exhibited seemed so unreal that they jerked me out of the story's reality. Why go to the tub instead of bringing the tub to the house? Why does Helen's husband so blithely accept what she's done? I know this is a story about madness so the unexpected should be expected, but these people aren't stupid. Perhaps it can be explained by the timescale of The Almost Moon only being the one day after the crime, but the book jumps back over so many years that I found it difficult to keep the present-day timeline in mind.
