The Lovely Bones is a 2002 novel by Alice Sebold

Alice Sebold

Alice Sebold is an American novelist. She has published three books: Lucky , The Lovely Bones and The Almost Moon .-Early life:...

. It is the story of a teenage girl who, after being rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

d and murdered, watches from her personal Heaven

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

 as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death. The novel received much critical praise and became an instant bestseller. A film adaptation

The Lovely Bones (film)

The Lovely Bones is a 2009 American drama film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a film adaptation of the award-winning and best-selling 2002 novel of the same name by Alice Sebold. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon, alongside Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as Susie's parents Jack and...

 of the novel, directed by Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson

Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...

 who personally purchased the rights, was released in American theatres on January 15, 2010, and in the UK on February 15, 2010.
The novel's title is a quotation taken from the novel's end, where Susie ponders her friends' and family's newfound strength after her death:

On December 6, 1973, in a suburb of Philadelphia, 14-year-old Susie Salmon takes her usual shortcut home from her school through a cornfield.