Alice Sebold — The Almost Moon

Picador 2007 Paperback, 291pp. When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily. Clair Knightly and her daughter Helen are locked in a relationship so unrelenting that it has sucked the air out of both of their lives. And as this electrifying novel opens, Helen crosses a line she never dreamt she would even approach. But while her act is almost unconscious, it also seems like the fulfilment of a lifetime's buried desire. Over the next twenty-four hours, Helen's life rushes in at her as she confronts the choices that have brought her to this crossroads. A woman who has spent a lifetime trying to win the love of a m other who had none to spare, she now faces an uncertain and dangerous freedom. Int The Almost Mood, Sebold explores the complex ties within families, the meaning of devotion and the fragility of the boundary that separates us from our darkest impulses. This is an unforgettabel novel, a raw and powerful story, written with the clarity and insight that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page. (ISBN: 9780330451376). Good.