The Lisbons

Sofia Coppola's film adaptation of the The Virgin Suicides was the first open door that introduced me to Jeffrey Eugenides. Since I saw the film, I could not stop wanting to know more about the Lisbon sisters.

The Virgin Suicides (2005)
by Jeffrey Eugenides

The novel tells the short lives of the five Lisbon sisters: Therese, Mary, Bonnie, Cecilia and Lux. Through various encounters with the girls, and collected personal belongings, a group of teenage boys fascinated and infatuated with the five narrates the mysterious tragic end.

*SPOILER ALERT* The gory deaths of the girls were tragic, surreal, and mysterious. Instantly, it was a story that would put a hold on you. The eerie feeling of wanting to know more about the perplexity of it all. But from beginning to end, we know what we are only getting. As readers, we are similar to the people in the book: only part of the neighborhood; an onlooker—ignorant and thirsty for answers. Yet, we continue to demand. And that what makes this book even more compelling. Likewise, it was an enlightening experience on issues of adolescent suicides.

Creatures so barely alive that their deaths came as little change.

Truly, Eugenides, has written a timeless masterpiece that will forever haunt the readers. Simultaneously satisfying the readers curiosity, and leaving them hanging. Just like the boys watching the Lisbon sisters, readers will always wonder, and will always try to patch up the missing pieces.

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