The Almost Moon

This is a story about matricide. It would have been more sympathetic had the protagonist simply smothered her obnoxious mother and not broken her nose, dragged her down the stairs and cut off her hair. After doing so she also slept with her best friend's son and later stole his car. She involved her ex-husband in the deception. Helen Knightly had had enough. She is mentally ill, as were her parents. She couldn't just walk away from her demented mother, couldn't involve caregivers. She was too embroiled in family dysfunction to handle the situation in a healthy way. That said, I didn't really care about Helen or what happens to her. This novel doesn't compare favourably to The Lovely Bones, Sebold's earlier novel. The fact that I read it to the end probably has more to do with my personal history than with the merits of the novel.