The Almost Moon - Alice Sebold
Lucky, The Lovely Bones Author's Second Novel
Helen Knightly has just killed her mother. This novel is a haunting and suspenseful look at her next 24 hours.
Helen Knightly has just killed her mother. She hadn't meant to do it; she had been trying to take care of her elderly mother and in a moment of disconnect smothered her in the towels she had gathered to wash her, and broke her nose in the process. But she balks at thinking of herself as a murderer.
Helen's eighty eight year old mother Clair had been all about appearances; when she was young she had made a living as a lingerie model, the photos from which still adorn the tables and dressers in her house. Her entry into old age was not a graceful one; after her husband's death she lived alone and suffered from increasing dementia and loneliness. Helen was left to check in on her, and the strained relationship they had always shared became even more so in the last few years.
Growing up in Her Mother's Shadow
Helen tells her story in the first person. She grew up in her shadow of mother's beauty, and was followed by the demons of mental illness that plagued her parents. Her father had committed suicide in front of her mother when Helen was a teen, and Helen wonders if her mother had egged him on or even encouraged him to pull the trigger. Her mother suffered from agoraphobia and last left the property to accompany Helen to the pharmacy to purchase menstrual pads.
Over the 24 hour span of the novel, Helen flashes back on a number of memories -- rare happy childhood memories and more chilling memories of her parents' tumultuous relationship, as well as memories of her two daughters when they were young. Helen's flashbacks are paired with present-day experiences as well, some more strange and grim than others. After killing her mother, she drags her to the basement of the old house and cuts of her mother's prized long braid of hair and slips it into her purse. She then drives to her best friend's house and proceeds to have sex with her college age son.
Character's Stability Questioned
The premise of The Almost Moon is somewhat plausible, as the protagonist is haunted by an inherited mental instability and has a mother who challenged and fought her to the end. Yet the reader is left wondering if this is an excuse for her actions or if she really has committed a crime. Also, when looking at her previous work it seems that Alice Sebold has more talent than she shows in The Almost Moon; the much anticipated novel doesn't live up to expectation.
About the Author
Alice Sebold is the author of the memoir Lucky and the novel The Lovely Bones. She has been chosen by the Village Voice as a Writer on the Verge, and has written for the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. She lives in California with her husband.
Sebold, Alice
The Almost Moon
New York, Little, Brown & Co., October 16, 2007
