Lucky by Alice Sebold literally wrecked me. I purchased this book many years ago. Likely, after I read The Lovely Bones (because I LOVED it). However, it has taken me many years to read it. Thank you, Book Jar for picking for me. I want the synopsis to come straight from the book, not from my head.
In a memoir hailed for its searing candor, as well as its wit, Alice Sebold reveals how her life was transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a park near campus. What ultimately propels this chronicle of sexual assault and its aftermath is Sebold’s indomitable spirit, as she fights to secure her rapist’s arrest and conviction and comes to terms with a relationship to the world that has forever changed. With over a million copies in print, Lucky has touched the lives of a generation of readers. Sebold illuminates the experience of trauma victims and imparts a wisdom profoundly hard-won: “You save yourself or you remain unsaved.”
I kid you not, the first chapter is the brutal account of her rape. She provides every detail, every feeling in what feels like real time. I felt myself clenching and grimacing, and I was just reading it. I cannot even begin to imagine what she went through.
The book begins with her rape and the fallout, not only with her family and her relationships, but also with her peers. People thought of her differently. Alice was able to find mentors who believed in her story. Luckily, she also had a police force that supported her.
In a time of #MeToo and men finally being held accountable for their deplorable actions, this book needs to resurface. This was originally published in 2002, eons before the scandals were brought to light. Alice Sebold was brave enough to tell her story AND write it down.
I read this book in just a few days. My heart hurt for her. I cried. But Lucky was absolutely phenomenal. If you’re a female invested in feminism or women getting justice for those who have wronged them, go pick up this book. I don’t know what you’re waiting for.
^They did a reprint last year, so I am linking to an updated cover. Ms. Sebold wrote an afterward for the new print, connecting it to the current movement that’s been happening.
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