Today in Writing: September 6- Author Alice Sebold’s Birthday

Additional Facts About Alice Sebold

Now that you are here, why not learn a few more additional facts about Alice Sebold? Aspiring writers should note that Sebold’s writing draws from real-life experiences. How many of the following facts about Alice Sebold and her writing did you know?

Lucky is a Memoir About Being Raped

One night while Sebold was a freshman at Syracuse University in 1981, she was assaulted and raped while walking home. Sebold’s memoir, Lucky, tells her story from that night and how this traumatic experience affected her life afterward. The title comes from a conversation she had with a police officer that night, who said: ‘she was “lucky” she wasn’t killed.’ Another woman had been raped and murdered in the same area.

Lucky was published in 1999 and sold over one million copies. According to Sebold, she wrote the book to raise awareness of rape and rape survivors. Anthony Broadwater was initially convicted for this crime and served 16 years in prison. However, Broadwater was exonerated in 2021 after a judge found issues with the initial conviction. The publisher, Scribner, ceased distribution of Lucky following Broadwater’s exoneration.

The Lovely Bones Was An Instant Bestseller

Alice Sebold began writing The Lovely Bones as early as 1996, under the working title of Monsters. However, she found she could not finish the novel until she dealt with her trauma by writing Lucky. The Lovely Bones was published in 2002 and achieved the New York Times Bestseller list later that year. It was Sebold’s first novel.

The novel received mostly positive reviews. Ali Smith of the Guardian wrote: “is a determined reiteration of innocence, a teeth-gritted celebration of something not dismembered or shattered at all, but continuous: the notion of the American family unit, dysfunctional, yes, but pure and good nonetheless.” Director Peter Jackson purchased the book’s film rights and adapted the story into a film of the same name. The film was released in 2010. In 2018, The Lovely Bones was adapted into a play.

The Lovely Bones is about 14-year-old Susie Salmon, who is raped and murdered on her way home from school. The story unfolds as she watches her friends and family struggle to deal with this horrific trauma. At the same time, Susie comes to terms with her own death. 

Awards and Accolades

The Lovely Bones received the Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in dark fantasy and horror writing in 2002. It also received the Heartland Prize in the same year for its reinforcement and perpetuation of the values of heartland America. In 2003, the American Booksellers Association awarded Sebold’s The Lovely Bones with the Book of the Year Award for Adult Fiction.

Today in Writing: September 6- Alice Sebold Quote

Writing can be used as a tool for healing and reflection. Alice Sebold is no stranger to this concept. Through her writing, she was able to take steps to heal. By writing her memoir, she was able to complete her novel.

“Murderers are not monsters, they’re men. And that’s the most frightening thing about them.”

-Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones