BOOK REVIEW: THE VIRGIN SUICIDES | JEFFREY EUGENIDES - BOOK CLUB 1

The Virgin Suicides is the year’s first pick for the online book club I’m part of, and is a book I’ve read a few times before. I really like the film adaptation as well, so starting the book club year with something familiar felt like a nice way to ease into things.

In 1970s Michigan the five Lisbon sisters are observed by the neighbourhood boys, who see them as an almost-mystical group of beings that they’d love to be close to. When youngest sister Cecilia commits suicide life changes for the Lisbons; Mr and Mrs Lisbon’s relationship suffers following the loss of their youngest daughter, and the book explores that along with the profound affects on the remaining sisters. Told through the eyes of the neighbourhood boys, The Virgin Suicides follows the remaining sisters’ lives as their parents grow ever-stricter following Cecelia’s death.

Throughout the book the narrative repeatedly shows that the boys struggle to understand the girls and all of their behaviours. Lux’s promiscuity is covered in detail, and the heavy male gaze overtakes quite frequently. It is really driven home that the adolescent boys who are observing the sisters don’t know them properly; everything is surface level and it is evident that they never really understand the girls at all, let alone why they reach the point of their own group suicide pact.

There are some heavy themes covered in the book, though it never feels truly dark, which I think is due to it being narrated from an outside perspective. By the end it is clear that we never realised just how deeply unhappy the girls were. Teenage sex, suicide in a Catholic household, childhood death, and the sisters’ struggles to live in an environment that is progressively isolating are all covered, though never very deeply. Though infatuated with the girls, and having their own desires to protect them, it’s clear the boys aren’t aware of the toxic environment within the Lisbon house, nor the future tragedy that will occur. 

The first time I read The Virgin Suicides I didn’t like it so much. It felt rambly and a bit of an idle observation of the family with no real purpose. After watching the film a few times over the years, I decided to re-read the book a couple of summers ago and ended up enjoying it a lot more. As far as book-to-film adaptations go, The Virgin Suicides is true to the source material and is one of the better examples of Hollywood-ing a novel into a movie.

This time around I felt quite indifferent. It is an easy read but feels very stagnant in places. This could be because it’s no longer new to me, or perhaps because I’m older now and even further away from the rose-tinted view of adolescence. Maybe I’m just not keen on the girls’ lives being narrated retrospectively by guys who only surface level know them, or it could be that it’s just not a book that has mega revisit value having last read it only a couple of years ago. However, it does still raise questions around whether people are always as ok as they make out, and shows just how much the world is not geared towards being easy when you’re a teenage girl. I would recommend The Virgin Suicides if you’ve not picked it up before. It’s a modern classic for a reason and will likely provoke some thoughts along the way. 

Rating: ✨✨✨

goodreads

wishlist