susanbrooks 's review for:

Lucky by Alice Sebold

5.0

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Powerful is too tame a word. Sebold's memoir of being raped at 19 is more than a replay of the brutal act. Part of what made it riveting is that she reflects upon what a multifaceted crime rape is. It changes her relationship to her family, her friends, her body, to every man she meets, to law enforcement, her own security, where she lives, to sexism, and to her own future. Luckily, there is some redemption here, in the trial of her rapist and in Sebold's own steely strength.