Alice Sebold

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 reaches her limit and crosses a terrible boundary, the world comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined. Unfolding over the course of a single day, this searing, fast-paced novel explores the complex ties within families, the wages of devotion, and the line between love and hate. It is an unsettling, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page.

"Mi chiamavo Salmon, come il pesce. Nome di battesimo: Susie. Avevo quattordici anni quando fui uccisa, il 6 dicembre del 1973. Negli anni Settanta, le fotografie delle ragazzine scomparse pubblicate sui giornali mi somigliavano quasi tutte: razza bianca, capelli castano topo. Questo era prima che le foto di bambini e adolescenti di ogni razza, maschi e femmine, apparissero stampate sui cartoni del latte o infilate nelle cassette della posta. Era quando ancora la gente non pensava che cose simili potessero accadere. Nel diario delle medie avevo ricopiato un verso di un poeta spagnolo, Juan Ramòn Jiménez; era stata mia sorella a farmelo conoscere. "Se vi danno un foglio squadrato, scriveteci sopra dall'altro lato". L'avevo scelto perché esprimeva tutto il mio disprezzo per gli ambienti rigidamente strutturati tipo aula scolastica che mi vedevo intorno e perché secondo me mi dava un'aura letteraria: non era una citazione idiota di un gruppo rock. Ero iscritta al Club degli scacchi e al Club della chimica, e bruciavo tutto quello che provavo a cucinare durante le lezioni di economia domestica della professoressa Delminico. Il mio preferito era il professor Botte, insegnava biologia e si divertiva a far ballare le rane e i gamberi, che in seguito avremmo sezionato, sulle loro tavolette di cera. Comunque non fu il professor Botte a uccidermi. E non crediate che tutte le persone che incontrerete in questa storia siano gente sospetta. Ecco il problema."

“Alice Sebold crea una novela mágica, conmovedora, inolvidable. ¡No se la pierda por ningún motivo!” –Isabel Allende “Profundamente conmovedor... un retrato perspicaz del amor familiar y de cómo perdura y a la vez cambia con el pasar del tiempo”. – The New York Times Cuando conocemos a Susie Salmon, sabemos que ya está en el cielo, en su nuevo hogar. Desde allí nos relata, con la inconfundible voz de una adolescente de catorce años, una historia tan inquietante como la de su propio asesinato a manos de un vecino y el proceso de recuperación por el que pasarán sus seres queridos. Tras su muerte, Susie contempla cómo la vida continúa sin ella; sus compañeros de colegio rumorean sobre su desaparición, su familia mantiene la ilusión de encontrarla con vida y el asesino se esfuerza en borrar las huellas del crimen. Los acontecimientos se suceden al tiempo que Susie se va adaptando a ese lugar llamado cielo, un refugio mágico donde encuentra consejeros que la ayudan a entender la muerte y amigos con los que convivir, un nuevo hogar donde halla todo lo que desea excepto lo más reencontrarse con las personas a las que ama quienes todavía viven sobre la Tierra. Desde mi cielo es una historia asombrosa y de extraordinaria ternura que parte de una de las pruebas más dolorosas a las que, desgraciadamente, a veces tenemos que la pérdida de un ser querido. Pero es también un relato lleno de esperanza, humor y el poder curativo del amor.

"Nom de famille : Salmon, saumon comme le poisson ; prénom : Susie. Assassinée à l'âge de quatorze ans, le 6 décembre 1973. [...] C'est un voisin qui m'a tuée. Ma mère aimait ses parterres de fleurs et un jour, mon père et lui avaient parlé engrais." Le viol et le meurtre de la petite Susie sont sans doute les souvenirs les plus effroyables qu'elle ait emmenés au paradis. Mais la vie se poursuit en bas pour les êtres que Susie a quittés, et elle a maintenant le pouvoir de tout regarder et de tout savoir. Elle assiste à l'enquête, aux dramatiques frissons qui secouent sa famille. Elle voit son meurtrier, ses amis du collège, elle voit son petit frère grandir, sa petite sueur la dépasser. Elle observe, au bord du ciel, pendant des années, la blessure des siens, d'abord béante, puis sa lente cicatrisation... Habité d'une invincible nostalgie, l'ange pourra enfin quitter ce monde dans la paix.

In a memoir hailed for its searing candor and wit, Alice Sebold reveals how her life was utterly transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a park near campus. What propels this chronicle of her recovery is Sebold's indomitable spirit - as she struggles for understanding ("After telling the hard facts to anyone, from lover to friend, I have changed in their eyes"); as her dazed family and friends sometimes bungle their efforts to provide comfort and support; and as, ultimately, she triumphs, managing through grit and coincidence to help secure her attacker's arrest and conviction. In a narrative by turns disturbing, thrilling, and inspiring, Alice Sebold illuminates the experience of trauma victims even as she imparts wisdom profoundly hard-won: "You save yourself or you remain unsaved."

Debiut powieściowy młodej amerykańskiej pisarki, który zdominował światowe listy bestsellerów na wiele miesięcy, pod względem sprzedaży bijąc na głowę dzieła największych sław literatury. Powieść o życiu i śmierci, radości i smutku, przebaczeniu i zemście. Zgwałcona i zabita dziewczynka trafia do nieba i obserwuje stamtąd życie na Ziemi, które toczy się już bez jej udziału. Zwiedza niezwykłe miejsce zwane niebem bezmiernym, w którym się znajduje, gdzie każde jej życzenie zostaje natychmiast spełnione, z wyjątkiem jednego - możliwości powrotu do ludzi, których kocha...

Kun ensi kerran tapaamme Susie Salmonin, lumisena joulukuun päivänä vuonna 1973 kadonnut tyttö on jo kuollut. Tarkkaillessaan elämää taivaspaikaltaan Susie kertoo lukijoilleen tarinan, joka hämmentää paitsi rajuudellaan myös kauneudellaan. Oma taivas on kertomus perheestä ja ensirakkautensa juuri kokeneesta tytöstä. Mutta se on myös tarina ilosta, joka ihmeellisesti löytää paikkansa surun keskellä. Alice Seboldin esikoisromaani herättää niin järkytyksen, innostuksen kuin hellyydenkin tunteita ja se tunnetaan myös Oscar-voittaja Peter Jacksonin ohjaamana menestyselokuvana.

Revoltante e surpreendente. São as palavras que melhor definem "Sorte - Um Caso de Estupro". O livro narra o estupro sofrido pela autora ainda virgem, aos 18 anos de idade, as conseqüências deste violento e traumatizante ato e como ela conseguiu superar o episódio. O título se origina do episódio em que um policial, ao tentar amenizar a situação, diz a Alice que ela teve "sorte", pois outra jovem, além de estuprada, também havia sido assassinada. E é apenas um sinal do tom irônico que será empregado com maestria pela autora em algumas passagens do livro. "Sorte" não é um livro de auto-ajuda. A intenção de Alice Sebold foi fazer um relato que derrubasse o tabu em torno da palavra "estupro" para que o assunto seja tratado com um pouco mais de naturalidade e que ajudasse aqueles que já passaram por essa difícil experiência.

Historia brutalnego gwałtu, jakiego ofiarą padła w wieku osiemnastu lat autorka książki, Alice Sebold, będąc studentką Uniwersytetu Syracuse. Opowieść o tym, jak z trudem budowała nowe życie, jak dzięki niezwykłemu hartowi ducha, uporowi i zawziętości udało się jej przetrwać załamanie psychiczne oraz doprowadzić do ujęcia i skazania na wieloletnie więzienie sprawcy gwałtu. Skutki dramatycznych przejść trwały przeszło 10 lat. Alice przezwycięża je dzięki kontaktowi z innymi poszkodowanymi oraz opublikowaniu wyznania w "The New York Times Magazine".

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.

Edited by critically acclaimed, best-selling author Alice Sebold, the stories in this year's collection serve as a provacative literary "antenna for what is going on in the world" (Chicago Tribune). The collection boasts great variety from "famous to first-timers, sifted from major magazines and little reviews, grand and little worlds" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), ensuring yet another rewarding, eduring edition of the oldest and best-selling Best American. The idiot President / Daniel Alarcón -- Yurt / Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum -- Rubiaux rising / Steve de Jarnatt -- Beyond the pale / Joseph Epstein -- A shadow table / Alice Fulton -- NowTrends / Karl Taro Greenfeld -- The farms / Eleanor Henderson -- Sagittarius / Greg Hrbek -- Hurricanes anonymous / Adam Johnson -- The anniversary trip / Victoria Lancelotta -- A man like him / Yiyun Li -- The briefcase / Rebecca Makkai -- Magic words / Jill McCorkle -- One dog year / Kevin Moffett -- Modulation / Richard Powers -- Them old cowboy songs / Annie Proulx -- Into the gorge / Ron Rash -- Ostracon / Alex Rose -- The peripatetic coffin / Ethan Rutherford -- Muzungu / Namwali Serpell -- Contributors' notes -- 100 other distinguished stories of 2008 -- Editorial addresses of American and Canadian magazines publishing short stories

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, The Lovely Bones succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.

"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her -- her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, The Lovely Bones succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.