The Almost Moon

by Alice Sebold

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316067362
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	09/08/2008
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	394,750
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	870L (what's this?)

About the Author

Alice Sebold is the bestselling author of The Lovely Bones, The Almost Moon, and Lucky a memoir. She lives in California with her husband, the novelist Glen David Gold.

Hometown:

Long Beach, California

Date of Birth:

September 6, 1963

Place of Birth:

Madison, Wisconsin

Education:

B.A., Syracuse University; studied poetry, University of Houston, 1984-85; M.F.A. in fiction, UC-Irvine, 1998

Reading Group Guide

Questions and topics for discussion

After the conversation with her father about almost moons, Helen says, "I knew I was supposed to understand something from my father's explanation, but what I came away with was that, just as we were stuck with the moon, so too we were stuck with my mother." (page 134) What did Helen's father intend to say with his example of almost moons? Did you think his metaphor was apt?

The Almost Moon opens with a startling confession. After the first several pages, why did you think Helen killed her mother? Did you feel sympathy for her at that point? As you learned more about Helen's relationship with her mother - and her mother's overall mental state - did your feelings about Helen change? Did you think she was more justified to act as she did, or did you lose sympathy for her?

In Chapters 2-4 and Chapter 11, Helen flashes back to memories from her past. In the first section, she is slowly removing her mother's clothes to bathe her. In the second, she is posing for art students. What do you think Sebold is implying about the relationship of the body to memory? Can you think of other instances in the text when the tactile leads Helen into a greater understanding or awareness of hers or another's past?

What motivated Daniel to stay with Clair for all of those years? Do you think his bouts of depression stemmed from a difficult home situation, or did he have larger issues? Should he have taken his daughter and left his wife - for Helen's sake, if not his own - or did he do the right thing by taking care of his wife, so that she wouldn't have to be in an institution? How much do we owe to those we love or have married?

What moves Helen to seek a physical connection with Hamish? Did you think their interaction was more than just physical? Was their relationship troubling to you, and was Natalie right to be angered by it?

Helen's two daughters, Emily and Sarah, are very different from each other, at one point reminding Helen of polarized magnets (page 80). Helen also tells Jake that "You left the girls . . . I may not have been perfect, but I didn't take off . . . " (page 167). Do you think Helen was a good mother? Was she a better mother to Sarah than to Emily? How do you feel her daughters would respond to that question?

In Chapter 9, Helen meets Mr. Forrest, who provides her an escape from her house. What is the significance to her of the illuminated manuscripts he collects? How does this visit change her view of her own life?

When they meet, Jake is Helen's teacher, and she is his muse. What causes them to drift apart and divorce? When he returns, how has their relationship changed?

In Chapter 12, Helen's father takes her to Lambeth, where he shows her the remains of his old house. What is the significance of the plywood people? Do they mean different things to Helen and to her father? Why does he select these particular moments of his life to commemorate? And does the town having been unsuccessfully "drowned" reflect any other situations in the novel?

How did you interpret the ending of the novel? What is the best way for Helen to make amends or atone for what she did? Or is there no way for her to make things right?

Editorial Reviews

Joan Allen fails to breathe sufficient life into Alice Sebold's second novel to make it worth the listen, but she really doesn't have much to work with. Helen Knightly, a divorced mother of two grown daughters, impulsively murders her 88-year-old mother, Claire. The story then flips back and forth between Helen's response to her present-day act and long flashbacks exploring her love/hate relationships with her emotionally volatile, agoraphobic mother and her suicidal, peculiarly obsessed father. Allen's calm, even voice makes Helen's most irrational actions (smothering her mother, cutting her clothes off, bathing her dead body and dragging it down to the basement) sound nearly as reasonable to listeners as they do to Helen. Allen also marvelously evokes the cracked, demented tones of Helen's aged mother. Unfortunately, the older Claire Knightly appears in only the smallest portion of the book, and Allen barely troubles to distinguish the voices of the other characters. Her unvarying voice, combined with the tediously introspective text, make this audio a real slog. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 27). (Sept.)

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Publishers Weekly

Much has been made of Sebold's opening line to her new novel, but it immediately sets the listener up for a roller-coaster journey into ethics and family relationships that may seem too familiar to some and too discomforting to others. Helen Knightly's climactic decision opens the book, but her history with her mother, Clair, and her deceased father are brutally explored through the skillful weaving of memories and haunted immediacy. Almost Moonis very different from The Lovely Bones, and yet the strength of the author's sense of danger told rather matter-of-factly is highly compelling. Joan Allen's reading is almost hypnotic. Highly recommended.
—Joyce Kessel

Library Journal

Listeners might be more easily absorbed into this brief lyrical novel were they not told in its opening sentences that the story's narrator has just suffocated her rapidly deteriorating mother. From that point on, the story is told as a flashback involving an only child, a mentally ill mother, and a father who finally succeeds at suicide. Flashback requires reflection. Despite Joan Allen's more than adequate rendering, audio by nature pushes ahead, not leaving a lot of space between the words. Repetition and slight variation, two of Sebold's strong points on the page, become petty annoyances. New-age musical interludes between chapters are out of place with the tone of the novel. In this case, Sebold's excellent writing has to be read on the page to be fully appreciated. R.R. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 08]—-


It's a stunning and gripping story that I would rate as one of the best novels of 2007.. It's bizarre that some reviewers complain that the bok is emotionally incoherent or that Helen's actions make no sense. The whole book is an exploration of what leads to the murder... Sebold's depiction of Helen's point of view is complex and gripping... The reading of he unabridged audiobook by Joan Allen is very strong. Her performance helps to make Helen a character one can identify with, and she also brings out the humor of her observations....The Almost Moon is if anything more memorable than The Lovely Bones, and is far more rewarding work to reflect on.—Christian Perring, Metapsychology

From the Publisher

Listeners might be more easily absorbed into this brief lyrical novel were they not told in its opening sentences that the story’s narrator has just suffocated her rapidly deteriorating mother. From that point on, the story is told as a flashback involving an only child, a mentally ill mother, and a father who finally succeeds at suicide. Flashback requires reflection. Despite Joan Allen’s more than adequate rendering, audio by nature pushes ahead, not leaving a lot of space between the words. Repetition and slight variation, two of Sebold’s strong points on the page, become petty annoyances. New-age musical interludes between chapters are out of place with the tone of the novel. In this case, Sebold’s excellent writing has to be read on the page to be fully appreciated. R.R. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

APR/MAY 08 - AudioFile