Last Sunday bookclub headed to see a matinee of 'The Lovely Bones'. Starring our very own Saoirse Ronan as the lead character, Susie Salmon who was murdered when she was fourteen on her way home from school by a neighbour. The film is set in the 70's and Peter Jackson does a great job at capturing the era on screen - all innocent and dreamy. The film loses its way somewhat with the depiction of Heaven or the 'in between' with Peter seemingly taking inspiration from cartoons like the care bears and telly tubbies which jars considerably with the tension created in the search for the murderer.The light relief is provided in the form of the eccentric granny played to perfection by Susan Sarandon who 
comes to help the family who is in crisis. Jack, Susie's father, is obsessed with finding her murderer and Abigail, Susie's mother, can't cope and eventually abandons the family to work on a winery. I enjoyed the film overall and thought that it did a good job of bringing the book to life. It was a little overly long and the ending could have been tied up better but they did have to condense the time period from the book to the film so this is most likely the reason for the disjointed ending.
comes to help the family who is in crisis. Jack, Susie's father, is obsessed with finding her murderer and Abigail, Susie's mother, can't cope and eventually abandons the family to work on a winery. I enjoyed the film overall and thought that it did a good job of bringing the book to life. It was a little overly long and the ending could have been tied up better but they did have to condense the time period from the book to the film so this is most likely the reason for the disjointed ending. As our last bookclub read was Her Fearful Symmetry, the theme of ghosts fit in quite well. Both books had a different version of an "in between" and also both could communicate in some way with the living.
And the book chosen for next month's bookclub is 'The Missing' by Jane Casey. It is a psychological thriller and received good reviews in Glamour this month. Jenny Shepard is twelve years old and missing. Her teacher, Sarah Finch, finds Jenny's body beaten and abandoned in the woods near her home. As a little girl, Sarah's brother Charlie had also gone missing and the strain of not knowing what happened ripped her family apart. Now in her early twenties, she is back living at home with her mother who drinks too much and keeps her brothers bedroom as a shrine to his memory. Sarah becomes drawn into the police investigation.The author, Jane Casey, was born in Dublin and studied English at Jesus College, Oxford followed by an mPhil in Anglo-Irish Literature in Trinity College, Dublin. She now lives in London and works in publishing as a children's books editor.
It is hoped to have the next bookclub towards the end of March and Debs has kindly offered to host and show off her new house.
Happy Reading.
