Alice Sebold wrote the novel on which Peter Jackson’s 2009 film The Lovely Bones is based.
Sebold’s novel was published in 2002 and follows Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl who watches her family and friends from a personal afterlife after her murder. Its emotional focus is the long, uneven process of grief and healing rather than only the crime itself.
The film adaptation was directed by Jackson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Saoirse Ronan played Susie, with Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci in other major roles. The movie changes or condenses parts of the novel, so readers sometimes remember details from the film as though they came from Sebold’s original story.
A related point often confused in quizzes is the title: The Lovely Bones is both the name of Sebold’s novel and Jackson’s film adaptation. Sebold’s other major novels include Lucky, a memoir about sexual assault, and The Almost Moon, published in 2007.