Book review: The Virgin Suicides

The Virgin Suicides- Jeffrey Eugenides

When I read the blurb of this book, it seemed right up my street. A macabre subject matter, an almost poetic writing style, a tale of loss and desolation. Yes, please! 

The Virgin Suicides tells the story of five teenage sisters who all kill themselves in the space of a year. The boys in the locality, who are infatuated with the beautiful and mysterious girls, tell the story of the year of the suicides, and the destruction that they bring to the neighbourhood.

With influences of Romeo & Juliet, the book opens with a prologue that reveals the ending of the tale, leaving the reader with constant foreshadowing throughout the whole story.

What's interesting about this book is the way that the story is told from the perspective of one of the boys on the estate: Someone who was somewhat removed from the events that unfolded and instead relies on hearsay passed down from other residents on the street. This leaves the reader in the situation where they never know the true story of the girls and begin piecing together the clues to reach their own conclusions. This also adds to the feeling of the girls' isolation- Nobody knows what happened except for each other, and when they have all gone, there is nobody left to reveal their secrets.