The Almost Moon

published	2007 by Little, Brown and Company
first published	2008
binding	Hardcover
isbn	0316677469 (isbn13: 9780316677462)
pages	304
description	A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this brilliant, powerful, and unforgettable new novel by the author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky....more [close] A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this brilliant, powerful, and unforgettable new novel by the author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky. For years Helen Knightly has given her life to others: to her haunted mother, to her enigmatic father, to her husband and now grown children. When she finally crosses a terrible boundary, her life comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined. Unfolding over the next twenty-four hours, this searing, fast-paced novel explores the complex ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, the meaning of devotion, and the line between love and hate. It is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page.
date added	05-04-07 edit book

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Ann rated it:

12/05/07

bookshelves: fiction

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: Any Fiction Lover

When I read The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold’s bestselling first novel, I thought, now what? What does an author write after that? How could she possibly top this novel?

Three short years later Alice follows with a realistic, maybe too real, new novel, The Almost Moon, that promises to ease its way up the bestseller list in a short time. In what seems to be Ms. Sebold’s tradition, The Almost Moon is a dark tale, not a cozy quick read. This story voices some of the worst emotions and fears ...more When I read The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold’s bestselling first novel, I thought, now what? What does an author write after that? How could she possibly top this novel?

Three short years later Alice follows with a realistic, maybe too real, new novel, The Almost Moon, that promises to ease its way up the bestseller list in a short time. In what seems to be Ms. Sebold’s tradition, The Almost Moon is a dark tale, not a cozy quick read. This story voices some of the worst emotions and fears one could imagine.

Helen Knightly, a middle-aged woman looking after her elderly mother, commits an act that most could not fathom. In the first sentence of the book, Helen tells the reader in her casual voice—as if she were a friend—that killing her mother came easily. This personal point of view sets the tone of the story and somewhat prepares readers for the emotional ride to come. The book only covers a twenty-four-hour period, but because of the way the story is told readers will hardly notice. I must applaud Ms. Sebold for the courage to tackle emotions and thoughts that readers will not want to identify with and a subject that will surely generate plenty of criticism.

The intricate relationship Ms. Sebold weaves between mother and daughter brings to the surface what most families fight to bury in their histories. The unhealthy bond between Helen and her mother Clair is evident when a young Helen eats a whole cookie sheet of candy Clair has made. Helen is punished by having to remain at the kitchen table until her father comes home. She becomes quite ill, but manages to stay in place.

The crazy dance between mother, father, and daughter has a long-lasting effect on Helen’s reality. She helps her father make existence possible for Clair by taking on an adult role with the neighbors and outsiders when Mr. Knightly is out of town. At one point, Mr. Knightly is gone for three months on business, or so says Clair. While he is gone, Helen is greeted with sad nods and casseroles from the neighbors, which she hordes in the deep freeze while mother and daughter live off peanut butter crackers and cheese toast. Helen fears one day she will be responsible for feeding both herself and Clair. She fears her father will never come home.

Sebold reveals a whole set of legacies passed on from one generation to another. Helen grows into a teenager perceiving her family as normal. It’s not until a neighbor points out the mental illness laced through her parents’ actions that Helen feels some freedom and validation. Her feelings about her mother were given a name: insanity.

Clair Knightly is not the most likeable of characters. She came to motherhood late in life only after her lingerie modeling career became nonexistent. The simple detail that Helen grew up in a house where the walls and tabletops were covered with framed black and white photos of Clair wearing lingerie was enough to make me sympathize with Helen, especially as more of the backstory unfolded. But just as I became willing to understand Helen’s act, Helen would say or do something that pushed me away. Whether intentional or not, this distancing was an excellent technique.

I believe every book asks a question of its readers. With Helen’s whole story unfolded, revealed, does this give her the right to take the life of her mother? Is her act a punishable offense, or do readers find something about Helen that helps them hope for her freedom? I’ll leave this for the readers to decide for themselves.

Alice Sebold’s unflinching ability to stare down the everyday violence lurking under the surface deserves both acknowledgment and praise. While this book may bring debate, and is not recommended as a casual read, I strongly suggest The Almost Moon to lovers of writing well done.

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Jason rated it:

01/24/08

Read in January, 2008

(My full review of this book is much longer than GoodReads' word-count limitations. Find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

I freely admit it; that as a man, there are sometimes things that women do that utterly baffle me, and will probably continue to baffle me until the day I freaking die, just like it is with women regarding men. And that's because, avoiding any kind of qualitative judgment, I think we can all agree that there are fund...more (My full review of this book is much longer than GoodReads' word-count limitations. Find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

I freely admit it; that as a man, there are sometimes things that women do that utterly baffle me, and will probably continue to baffle me until the day I freaking die, just like it is with women regarding men. And that's because, avoiding any kind of qualitative judgment, I think we can all agree that there are fundamentally different ways that men and women sometimes react in different situations, based on a variety of criteria and societal concerns, and that in some cases such actions and behaviors can seem incomprehensible to the other gender. You don't hear of too many men, for example, who just lose their marbles one day, drive their kids to a nearby lake and calmly drown them; not too many male jilted lovers go on insane cross-country drives in the middle of the night, with bizarre weapons in tow and while wearing adult diapers so that they don't have to make bathroom breaks, all in the name of some crazed crackpot scheme thought up in the middle of the night regarding stabbing their lover's new lover then turning the knife on themselves.

It is one of these very topics, in fact, that fuels the entire storyline of acclaimed author Alice Sebold's latest brilliantly twisted dark little novel, The Almost Moon; in fact, that's what the very first chapter of the book is devoted to, is a real-time blow-by-blow accounting of a middle-aged woman suddenly going insane one day and murdering her senile, sh-t-covered old-age mother, just randomly one afternoon while over at her house and preparing to clean her like a baby for the thousandth time in a row now. What the rest of this delightfully wicked story is about, then, is a fascinating and detailed look at the decades leading up to this moment, told in a non-narrative "hyperfiction" style that jumps from early-childhood to just yesterday at the blink of an eye, painting one of the deepest portraits you'll see in contemporary literature of a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship, and of all the teeny, tiny, strange, entertaining, depressing, hopeless, fascinating ways the relationship affects the way the woman deals with each and every other person in her life too. It is utterly a female story, the kind that can only be told by a female author, but told in a way so that I as a male reader can get it too; I love such novels, as I've mentioned here before, and am always glad to come upon another one like I have this week.

So why does Sebold's name sound so familiar, you're thinking? Well, because she's the mousy dark novelist who seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the early 2000s to write The Lovely Bones, an emotionally devastating crime thriller and meditation on loss that happened to have been written from the standpoint of a murdered teenage girl as she watches the proceedings from heaven. I read it too when it first came out, and like many others it made me openly weep in public; it became not only a runaway bestseller, but is also slated to be the next movie by Lord of the Rings impresario Peter Jackson. Oh yeah, that Alice Sebold!

This is only her second novel, after taking a break between them to pen the true rape memoir Lucky; and it is the best kind of second novel to write, to tell you the truth, one that......less

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Lorraine rated it:

02/15/08

Read in September, 2007

THE ALMOST MOON is a brave book by a courageous writer. After the phenomenal success of THE LOVELY BONES, Alice Sebold could have chosen to write a sophomore novel in which she once again gave readers a sympathetic, utterly likable narrator like Susie Salmon. Instead, she writes through the voice of Helen Knightly, and Helen tells the reader, right from the beginning, that liking her is going to be a challenge:

When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily. Dementia, as it descends...more THE ALMOST MOON is a brave book by a courageous writer. After the phenomenal success of THE LOVELY BONES, Alice Sebold could have chosen to write a sophomore novel in which she once again gave readers a sympathetic, utterly likable narrator like Susie Salmon. Instead, she writes through the voice of Helen Knightly, and Helen tells the reader, right from the beginning, that liking her is going to be a challenge:

When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily. Dementia, as it descends, has a way of revealing the core of the person affected by it. My mother's core was rotten like the brackish water at the bottom of a weeks-old vase of flowers. She had been beautiful when my father met her and still capable of love when I became their late-in-life child, but by the time she gazed up at me that day, none of this mattered.

The book, told in Helen's voice, is about the 24 hours that follow the matricide. But, in that day, Helen will veer back and forth between a present, in which she deals with the consequences of her actions, and the past, in which the costs of her mother's closeted mental illness make themselves clear to Helen in a series of flashbacks.

Helen's behavior, while at first difficult to comprehend, becomes more understandable as she narrates her story. Some readers will undoubtedly find Helen such a difficult narrator that they will be unable to empathize with her. It's part of what shows Sebold to be a writer who is willing to take risks. Creating a character who, at first read, appears vain and unempathetic, is to take the risk that a reader will not stick with the book until the end. But, as more of Helen's story is told, one sees how damaged she was by a childhood in which her parents' demons injured her. And Sebold's language and skill as a writer give to Helen a depth that demands that the reader "hear her out."

As Helen tells more of her story, we see the shadows of her parents' demons move across Helen's skin. She grew up in a house of secrets but Helen makes her living as a nude art model, and yet, while Helen is nude almost every day, she is rarely naked. She had learned to hide from the people who love her: her ex-husband, her best friend and her best friend's son, and Helen's two daughters, as effectively as Helen's agoraphobic mother had hidden from the world. Killing her mother forces Helen out into the open, and Sebold lets us see an imperfect woman who struggles with all-too-human issues albeit in a violent and extreme way.
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Ukrainer rated it:

10/31/07

Read in October, 2007

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones is a disappointing and overrated book. Imagine my pleasure and delight (I always like to feel justified) when I read several reviews (The New York Times Sunday Book Review and USA Today) absolutely trashing her latest book The Almost Moon. However, Almost Moon sounded so bad that I just had to find out how bad it is for myself.

First, do not read this book. The protagonist (if I dare use that word), Helen, kills her mother....more

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Alison rated it:

01/03/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: noone

I picked up "Almost Moon" because I am a Sebold fan. Like most of the reviews I have read, I loved "Lucky" and "The Lovely Bones". In both of these books there was the beautiful and inspiring as well as the ugly and devastating. Almost Moon is a whole other thing. It contains only the ugly and devastating.

The subject of this book is Helen, who quickly suffocates her mother in the first chapter, and takes the rest of the book to explain her actions, never becomes...more I picked up "Almost Moon" because I am a Sebold fan. Like most of the reviews I have read, I loved "Lucky" and "The Lovely Bones". In both of these books there was the beautiful and inspiring as well as the ugly and devastating. Almost Moon is a whole other thing. It contains only the ugly and devastating.

The subject of this book is Helen, who quickly suffocates her mother in the first chapter, and takes the rest of the book to explain her actions, never becomes sympathetic. Instead, It only becomes more and more apparent exactly how dangerously narcissistic and psychotic she is. Yes, her mom was nuts and her dad committed suicide. And yes, she tried a short stint at therapy only to stop for the most superficial reason - she didn't like the sculptures in her therapist's office. And throughout the book we learn about morally questionable things Helen has done in the past as well as watch her commit even more crimes against humanity. And never does she seem to self-reflect - gee, that was wrong. God, I really hurt people when I did that. Instead, she is full of excuses and paper thin explanations. So I read this book in entirety with an ill feeling in my stomach. Never have I less enjoyed a read. There was nothing in this book to raise me out of the murk of this woman's soul depleted life.

However, I have to say I disagree with the NYT reviews. I do find Helen to be a believable character. And I do find her narcissism and hollow but addictive love of her insane mother also believable. I do find how their is little to redeem Helen in our eyes believable. This is insanity. Insanity has its own rules. And Sebold takes us into this quite unpoetic mindset. It's a revolting read, but not without truths.

In summary, I would never recommend this book to anyone. I don't mind reading a dark book once in a while but I still want my reward. Some nugget of beauty and transcendence. There book offers nothing in the way of that. This book is certainly well written and an accurate portrayal of a family gone bonkers but I want more from a book. But I guess I am just a romantic. ...less

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Kendra rated it:

02/28/08

bookshelves: jumped-ship

Read in February, 2008

I wanted to believe that the backlash against this book could be explained by general disappointment about Sebold's second novel not living up to The Lovely Bones. Um, yeah. Not only did it not measure up, but I don't even want this book in the same ROOM with my other books. It really and truly is that bad. I tried, people. I tried. But when I spent 4 hours on a plane learning how to do Sodoku just so I wouldn't have to read one more heinous word of this novel, I knew that I was goi...more

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Anne rated it:

11/25/07

Read in November, 2007

In 2003, my brother bought me Alice Sebold's first novel, The Lovely Bones, for Christmas. I was into it from the first page, and I couldn't help crying my eyes out. Later, I read her memoir, Lucky. I didn't think it was quite as well done, but it was about a very powerful topic, and it gave me some respect for where Sebold had come from and how much she had overcome. So, I eagerly anticipated getting this one from the long library waiting list. The Almost Moon tackles the difficult subject of...more

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Angela rated it:

11/13/07

Read in November, 2007

I was so hoping to like this book. I loved the beginning of "The Lovely Bones" and was hoping Sebold could keep it up through an entire novel. Unfortunately, on page 44, I read the worst line I have ever encountered in literature. I finished the book but never got over that awful, awful line. I have no idea if this is a good book or not. I only know it contains the most disturbing sentence ever written.

I am going to quote the sentence. Let's call it a public service. I warn...more

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Lex rated it:

10/28/07

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: vacuous coworkers

I'm currently reading this book and feel compelled to comment on it before I finish it. I am reading this book literally back-to-back with The Lovely Bones -- which I enjoyed enough to look into Sebold's other books -- but I find myself dismayed (disappointed?) with it.

Sebold has repeated imagery used in The Lovely Bones, practically verbatim. She's also reused surnames of characters. Initially I assumed this was to make some sort of callback to The Lovely Bones, implying this Stolfutz ...more

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Caroline rated it:

11/30/07

bookshelves: fiction, read-in-2007

Read in November, 2007

This was just not worth the effort it took to get through it, at all. I could have gotten over the main character murdering her mother (which is within the first sentence, so don't panic about being spoiled) if she weren't so unpleasant in every other respect. First she murders her mother, and then she goes on to do other things that are just as cringe-worthy.

I also could have gotten past how horrible a person Helen was...if they novel had any kind of point at all. I kept reading in hopes th...more

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Erin rated it:

02/05/08

bookshelves: book-club-selections

Read in February, 2008

A middle-aged woman starts out by telling us that she's just killed her elderly mother, and then alternates from flashback to present, explaining what would have led her to do such a thing, and how she plans on dealing with the situation. Though many reviews bash the protagonist for her actions, calling her horrendous and unsympathetic, I disagree. In killing her mother, she was not being cold-blooded and calculating; while she did harbor a great hatred for her mother, she also felt an inexplic...more

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Michele rated it:

11/29/07

Read in November, 2007

Can't Recommend
The writing is good, and the story is compelling enough to stay with it til the end to find resolution; however, The Almost Moon doesn't deliver. The main character, Helen, who reveals in the first sentence that she has just killed her mother, remains highly unlikable and unsympathetic on nearly every page. Upon reading the last sentence, I asked myself, "What was the point?" Author, Alice Sebold, succeeds at painting three-dimensional characters and pres...more

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Kate rated it:

12/19/07

Read in December, 2007

I really didn't like this book. I was looking forward to reading it because I liked Alice Sebold's earlier novel, The Lovely Bones. Like The Lovely Bones, this novel was dark and covered uncomfortable subject matter.
(SPOILERS)
Well, I don't know how much you could consider it a spoiler, since you know in the first page or two, but the main character kills her demented mother and the book follows her over the next 24 hours as she tries to deal with what she's done. It basically follows her tra...more

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Carolyn rated it:

02/02/08

i had big hopes for this book. I really enjoyed Sebold's memoir Lucky and first novel <i> The Lovely Bones<?i>, but this one lacked umph. Although i sympathized with the main character dealing with a less-than-ideal family situation, I just didn't like her as a person. I wanted to slap her on the face and yell, "Get it together woman. Get. Back. In. The. Game."

Some quotes:
Your seduction lines are calibrated for women half my age.

When was it that you realiz...more

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Leslie rated it:

03/08/08

Read in February, 2008

This book was extremely disturbing. The main character is introduced as seemly a normal woman whose elderly mother is entering her final years and at the stage of facing a nursing home or care facility. Even after she kills her mother, she tells the story as if this is just sort of a bummer day, almost, "Oh my gosh, I killed my mother. I don't want to be late for work." Ironically, I was even lulled into moments where I was not completely horrified at what just happened--and continu...more

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Janell rated it:

01/14/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Readers who want a murder story, heavy on the story and without the gore

If the main character in this book were asked to describe a huge, heavy glass vase, she wouldn't necessarily tell you about its shape, size, texture, or how it looks. Instead, she very likely might slam it up against a wall to shatter it, and throw herself down and roll around in the sharp shards. Only then could she blandly describe the vase - how those shards look sticking into her, and what the blood looks like dripping down her skin.

The book opens with the main character (Helen) meth...more

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Diana rated it:

05/07/08

There is a line people do not cross. Helen Knightly, middle-aged divorced mother of two and caretaker of her chronically mentally-ill elderly mother, Clair, crosses it more than once in this unnerving and haunting twenty-four hour narrative. In effort to clean away the acrid scent of her mother soiling herself, Helen wraps Clair in blankets, sickly thinking, "Super Giant Mother Burrito," takes her out on the porch and instead smothers her with a towel.

Alice Sebold, author of reader...more

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Zainab rated it:

11/11/07

I would give it a 2.5 stars if i could, but as it's a choice between 2 and 3, it will have to be 2.
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i was so excited when i saw this in the bookstore. i loved The Lovely Bones, and was really looking fwd to reading this. I am about half way through, and am desperate to throw it out of the window, but I will persevere. So far it's weird beyond reason.
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i made it thro...more

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Jenny rated it:

12/27/07

Read in December, 2007

First, I have to say that this book is very disturbing and upsetting. Second, if you LOVED the Lovely Bones and have been waiting for another masterpiece then this isn't it. You almost have to suspend your knowledge of that other Sebold book while reading this one because they are extremely different. In the first few pages (I'm not really spoiling anything) the main character smothers her mother. The rest of the book switches between current time and the past trying to explain the mother/daught...more

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Maggie rated it:

11/21/07

bookshelves: difficult-to-finish, relationships

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in November, 2007

After I read Sebold's The Lovely Bones a couple of years ago I eagerly awaited her newest work of fiction. I had not heard anything about this new book but after the synopsis of the The Almost Moon, about a tumultous mother-daughter relationship, I felt that the book was interesting enough to purchase. I should probably add that I also got the book for 40%, which was also a factor in my purchasing...not always a wise decision.

Some of the things that I like about Sebold's writi...more