The Lovely Bones
Alice Sebold

The plot of this one (young girl narrates her life and murder from heaven) put me off when I first heard it but, when many smart friends read, and loved it, I decided to give it a go. I am really glad I did. Seabold walks a fine line between cheesy and brilliant here. Dead child narrators are not an easy trick, and at times the book is a little purple. But purple or no, I couldn’t put it down. By turns manipulative and well written (the scene where the child narrates her own murder gave me chills, but I’m not sure why) this one is definitely worth a look if you can stomach child murder as plot point.

Recommended.