Bye, Mom
THE ALMOST MOON
by Alice Sebold
304 pp. Little Brown $24.99
Reviewed by Ann Hite
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.
Ann Hite is hard at work on Where The Souls Go, or, as
she commonly calls it, The Beast. Where The Souls Go is the second
novel in an intended series of Black Mountain Stories. When not in
her fictional community of