The Virgin Suicides
Synopsis
Told from the future, plural, and collective perspective of neighborhood boys in Detroit, Eugenides’ coming-of-age novel follows the five mysterious and enigmatic Lisbon sisters. From afar, the narrator observes each girl and her individual quirks: Cecilia, who exclusively wears a tattered old wedding dress; the delinquent Lux; pious Bonnie; prim Mary; and bookworm Therese. Over the course of one year, the girls commit suicide in a variety of horrific ways, and Eugenides examines the domino effect (or the lack thereof) these events have on the world around them. Marked by magical realism and absurdity, the book tackles themes like religion, superficiality, and the architecture of memory.
Review
Pulitzer Prize winner Jeffrey Eugenides is best known for his 2002 novel Middlesex. Director Sofia Coppola adapted The Virgin Suicides (1993) to the screen in 1999. By revolving the narrative around the Lisbon girls’ feminine aesthetics, the book paints the sisters as objects of the male gaze, rather than living, breathing humans with real needs and desires. Another interesting element is the personification of the neighborhood itself, which reinforces the feeling that the sisters’ comings and goings are under constant surveillance by those who idealize them. The book becomes increasingly fragmented and nonsensical, building on each character’s delusions and transferring that feeling to the reader. While I thoroughly enjoy Eugenides’s writing, I think some of the sisters’ stories could have been explored in more depth.