The Almost Moon

Item: The Almost Moon
Author: WhichBook

Alice Sebold

In the 24 hours after committing the most horrible crime, Helen looks back over her childhood in a dysfunctional family and the events which have led her to this point. Although the story is tragic, Helen does not come across as a sad person damaged by her past, but as brave and funny.

The writing is direct and vibrant although the subject matter is difficult to deal with. the whole is a story which will linger in the mind.

Extract

When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily. Dementia, as it descends, has a way of revealing the core of the person affected by it. My mother's core was rotten like the brackish water at the bottom of a weeks-old vase of flowers. She had been beautiful when my father met her and still capable of love when I became their late-in-life child, but by the time she gazed up at me that day, none of this mattered.

Parallels