Lucky - Alice Sebold

This book recounts Alice Sebold's experiences after she was raped and beaten in a park when she was a teenager. Now this is not the easiest subject matter to talk but when it's you that have experienced it, I can only imagine how hard writing this book must have been. The title, Lucky really sums up the nature of this book. It's not about self pity, it's about getting on with life and how she coped with what happened to her and the reactions of the people she met, both those close to her and those she meets in the future when getting on with her life. The actual attack is explained in detail and it is sometimes difficult to read but it's important ...  Read the complete review

I read Sebold's work of fiction - The Lovely Bones - many years ago and enjoyed it immensely. So I decided to follow their advice when someone suggested I read this to further my knowledge before training at rape crisis. It is a memoir of Sebold's experience of rape and her life beyond that. The book begins in a tunnel. The facts are stark and plain in the preface and this continues to be the case as the first chapter begins. This first person account of rape is all the more shocking because of the mundanity of the some of the facts ("It was a photo ID. New York State didn't have them...Pennsylvania did"). It is this that strikes the chord of ...  Read the complete review