The Virgin Suicides

By Jeffrey Eugenides

Adapted into a critically acclaimed film by Sofia Coppola and starring Kirsten Dunst, this is the story of the five Lisbon sisters – beautiful, eccentric, and obsessively watched by the entire neighbourhood.

The boys that once loved them from afar are now grown men, determined to understand a tragedy that has always defied explanation. For still, the question remains – why did all five of the Lisbon girls take their own lives?

This hypnotic and unforgettable novel treats adolescent love and death with haunting sensitivity and dark humour, and creates a coming-of-age story unlike any of our time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Apr 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9780007524310

Jeffrey Eugenides

Jeffrey Eugenides is the author of three novels. His first, The Virgin Suicides (1993), is now considered a modern classic. Middlesex (2002) won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and both Middlesex and The Marriage Plot (2011) were finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Fresh Complaint, a collection of short stories, was published in 2017. He is a member both of The American Academy of Arts and Letters and The American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Reviews for The Virgin Suicides

[starbox_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A weird but terribly compelling tale, set in a middle class town in 1970s Michigan. Narrated not by any one character but by a 'Greek chorus' of the local boys; every event told from the 'we' perspective. They recall the Lisbon family - schoolteacher father, overprotective Catholic mother and their five lovely daughters. After the youngest - and strangest - commits suicide, the family begins to crack up. We never really know what propels the other daughters to eventually follow suit: the loss of their sister? their abnormal home life? something genetic? The whole narrative is kind of Gothic, dreamy, other-worldly; just as we never get a real handle on the several narrators, so too the girls are seen only through their eyes and their recollections and opinions- like watching them in a mirror rather than really knowing them.I've never read anything like this, an incredible feat of writing.

[tronella_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The plot was compelling, but I found the writing style deeply unpleasant. Not for me.

[sometimeunderwater · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If GG Marquez had written Arcade Fire's debut album. At times a bit try-hard, as if the readers would be bored if everyone didn't have an over-engineered cartoon quirk, but once you settle into the style it works. Possibly more effective if the ending hadn't been telegraphed from the start.

[renbedell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A story of a family of mysterious girls seen from an outsiders perspective. The book focuses on the history of the family told by a narrator who lived down the street. It works well as it slowly reveals more and more about the girls and the family. It is written very well. Can be dry, but the tone usually fits the aspect of the story. The story is very sad and the author does a good job of creating empathy for the characters. I really enjoyed the book and felt I got a lot out of it.

[justagirlwithabook · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I made it through this one but can say right away that I wouldn’t recommend it for winter reading or for those who have struggled or are struggling with depression. The feeling is a bit similar to the feeling I got from The Bell Jar (which I also intentionally read during the summer). I’ve had to read this one in snippets and while out in the sun to combat that oppressive feeling. Overall, I think it was pretty good. The back end of it lightened up a little bit and wasn't quite as depressing (though the content is still a bit rough). I don't know that I'll be recommending this to many people unless it's up their alley, just for the oppressive feeling it emits.

[borrows0n0wants · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a good book. I read it shortly after watching the movie and was surprised to find that the story was told from the boys' point of view rather than the girls'. After getting into the novel though, I liked that it was written from a point of view not so close to the main story. This book can be depressing at times, but I did not have a hard time finishing it at all. It gets a little darker toward the end, but not dark/depressing enough to stop me from finishing it.

[bravenewbks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I knew the rough plot already from having seen the movie years ago, but the book still managed to blow me away. The language was gorgeous and sumptuous, which made an amazing contrast to the somber subject of the novel. I will pick up another book by Eugenides soon, to see how he weaves words around a different subject. Anyone have a particular recommendation?

It's been a long time since I was so impressed with both the command of language (such descriptions!) and the mastery of plot and pacing.

[stephlaymon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Virgin Suicides is a very good coming of age story that is told in the style of a chronicle. It shows beautifully how a family comes completely undone by tragedy and how they then create their own continuing tragedy. Unfortunately it felt very YA-ish to me, and I was hoping for something that felt more adult, even with the coming of age theme.

[amerynth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Eugenides's wonderful novel "The Virgin Suicides" takes readers to suburban America, when Elm trees lined the streets and neighbors marched over to help each other out with snow shoveling or chores. The novel is really about the decline of that lifestyle, told through the eyes of boys who curiously watch the five Lisbon girls, as their lives crumble in the wake of a suicide. The book is marvelously descriptive, with a strikingly good narration as the boys try to decipher why the Lisbon girls, who are cut off from the world in an increasingly strict family, are prone to suicide. This book is really a page turner and a quick read because it is so thoroughly interesting.

[laila_blake · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to like this book, well, I wanted to love it but I just ended up barely liking it. Something that always makes it difficult for me to review books is a discrepancy between quality of writing and my own enjoyment. If both are high, great, but what if they vary? How do you judge a book fairly?

Spoilers:

This one started out really beautifully and I was enjoying myself a lot. But the longer it went on, the longer nothing much happened the less I was. Now, I am not someone to bash slow books, or books ostensibly without much plot - but they need something, character development or deep insights. And I felt all I was getting was a bunch of really creepy middle-aged guys reminiscing about their deep and mysterious time when they were teenagers, stalking these deep and fascinating creatures easily grouped and objectified as "the Lisbon girls". Of course they did more than reminisce, they also stole their underwear, their diaries, medical pictures of their cervixes and then waxed poetically how no lover had ever managed to make them forget the image of Lux Lisbon doing it on the roof of her house with random strangers although just a page later they described how the accounts of these encounters all said, she didn't get a bit of enjoyment of out it. And still they rubbed one out over that all the way into adulthood.
And yes, I get that this is the point of the book and I also get that by their final act of inclusion, the girls opened themselves up to being so minutely dissected, but that doesn't stop the book from being a really really creepy and kinda boring read. Yes, I used the B-word, sorry. I usually try not to do that with books.

And through-out we kept hearing about how MYSTERIOUS it was, and how everybody wanted to know why they did it and nobody understood. And it didn't seem mysterious at all, really, just the same old trope of mysterious women, so difficult and impossible to understand, so different from us. In the last page the boys even sounded like somehow the girls were selfish because they had owed it to the boys to let them help because the boys loved them so much.
There were moments in the book where they suddenly seemed to understand that they were being creepy, that the girls were individuals (even if any understanding of individuality meant they described them as uglier as they were in their minds - Lux' "honest" smile, for example, is described as unpretty) and yet, they either keep forgetting this again or it doesn't have any lasting impact.

And even if I am very generous and believe that the author knows all the problematic aspects of how sexist this book is and how it was a testiment to how self-obsessed and creepy teenage boys are... then it still wasn't enjoyable, and the girls weren't really characters, just wank-fodder for the boys, either literally or to feel deep and different. Because, of course, the Lisbon girls were so different from all the other ones in school...

I could go on. This is the issue, it was beautifully written, the symmetry and the images and allusions, all beautiful - it also depicted teenage boys well (even though the fact that they had zero character development even though the book was told by them as adults was really boring and kinda problematic) but a book that is great for me personally either makes me sit here in utter despair that I can never pen something this beautiful or it fuels me and sends me to my own stories to write on. This did neither, it just left me with a certain sense of apathy.

[ajbraithwaite_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not exactly a cheering read, but a moving one. As I read I was reminded of two movies: Picnic at Hanging Rock and Stand By Me. This novel had the same haunting, mysterious quality and that same struggle to come to terms with untimely death.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Do you remember that old TV show, The Wonder Years, about a man reflecting on his childhood growing up in a suburban town during the late 60s? The show discusses some of the social issues and events of that era, and revolves around the narrator's crush on Winnie Cooper, the 'girl next door'. The Virgin Suicides is similar in that it is a retrospective of high school boys growing up during that time, only much MUCH darker. A group of boys live across the street from the Lisbon household, a family with 5 teenage daughters. The neighborhood boys, already infatuated with these girls, become obsessed with their lives as all 5 girls commit suicide. The book is well-written and has a strong narration, but it is a hard one to recommend. Although having the story told from the perspective of adolescent bystanders is creative and gives a horrible story an element of innocence, at the end of this book, I just wanted to understand why these girls all took their lives - maybe so I could convince myself that it could never really happen.

[cait815 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was my first book by Eugenides and one of the best books I've read all year. It was haunting and heartbreaking. Normally I get annoyed when I read a book that "tells" rather than "shows", but for once it was actually crucial to the story. The first person plural narration was brilliant. I felt like I was right there with the boys, peering out windows and watching the Lisbon girls, feeling at once captivated and mystified by them. There's one scene in particular (at a Homecoming dance) that made my chest ache, made me wish so badly that things would turn out differently than the inevitable outcome I had been told to expect from the very first page. No such luck. This book is a new favorite, and one that stays with you long after you finish reading it. I look forward to reading his other two.

[fig2_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Long before Jeffrey Eugenides gave us Middlesex, he delivered this dark jewel of a novel. Set in small town America, this study of a broken family of suicidal sisters will shock you. It is so compelling, you will be absolutely hooked. Wonderful!

[mysteena · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What an amazing book. It's a coming of age book about the suicide of five sisters, as told from the perspective of the neighborhood boys. The narrator never names himself, and always refers to himself and the other boys as "we." There is no "I" in the narration, which I found interesting. Yes, it's a dark tale but told in a way so as not to make it too sad or depressing. I found the writing absolutely wonderful. His use of metaphor is perfect; when he'd describe certain things I'd think "Yes, that's exactly how it is! Why haven't I realized it before?" The narrator tells right in the beginning that all five sisters commit suicide, so I'm not spoiling by mentioning that. The first sister, age 13, kills herself first at the beginning of the book. The story is mostly about the grieving process her family goes through (from the perspective of the boys) and how they were almost not allowed to heal. It's a powerful book, a unique story. Keep in mind it is about teens, so there are a couple of explicit scenes.

[kelawrence · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beyond being confused who was narrating the story, I thought this book was great. Read it in a day. A more in-depth picture of who the mother was would have been nice (you learn somewhat about the father, but not really the mother.) The parents were so clueless - the kids had no lives - I felt so bad for them.

[cygnoir_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an exquisite read, lyrical despite the macabre subject matter. From the first pages, I lost myself in the story, and it stands on its own as a brilliant one, told expertly. The brilliance of this book is that it also explores intriguing stylistic themes (allegory, foreshadowing) as well as subject matters (fate vs. free will, appearance vs. reality) without detracting from the flow of the story. I will eagerly read anything else Mr. Eugenides has written, and highly recommend this beautiful book.

[sapphire99stars · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was so-so. Nothing very special or memorable about it.

[calmclam_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book, but it was rather slow going and not, in the end, very memorable. I did love the POV choice--first person plural is really rare--and the style of a quasi-documentary. In some ways it reminded me of the end of Looking for Alaska; in a lot of ways they're both about searching for meaning behind a suicide, and ultimately unanswered.

[erikayumi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Haunting and lyrical. leaves you curious well after you've finished the last page

[auraesque · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Wasn't quite what I expected but I enjoyed it. Narrative is...surprising for lack of a better work. Very good novel.

[cookiedemon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a really memorable, intense read that speaks of unrequited love and the end of childhood. It was a novel that I enjoyed a lot, despite having this sat on my bookshelf for years and only just getting around to reading it.The Virgin Suicides takes a story of everyday suburban life in the 1970's and re-crafts it to be a tale of dark postmodern humour with creepily persistent narrators collectively recapping their youth and their obsession with five suicidal sisters. It is something of a mystery as to why the five sisters killed themselves and even now, years later, this now balding group of men are still trying to unravel it and have disturbingly gathered evidence and testimonials of the time to try and put the pieces together once and for all.I found this book to be effective mainly owing to the narrator's style- as the person or persons remain a bit of a mystery and are never identified but have witnessed the whole situation from the start. The real impression given to the reader through the description and prose is that you too are surveying the neighbourhood and the Lisbon household and that you have also been pulled into their world.Though the book was admittedly odd and gloomy and the subject matter was complex, there was just something appealing about it that spoke to me. Generally, the underlying message I took from it was the story of destroyed innocence in a suburban community that has never fully recovered from a tragedy and that of dysfunctional family relationships. I would recommend trying the novel yourself if you enjoy contemporary fiction with a difference.*This review also appears on Amazon.co.uk*

[delphimo_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This novel came highly recommended by the critics, but frankly I disliked the novel. The story involves five Detroit sisters around the 1950's. The five Lisbon girls all commit suicide in a year. The chapters are long rambling affairs that lead nowhere. No one in the community steps in to prevent tragedy after the first suicide. The father, a math teacher in a private high school, resigns from his teaching position and the girls are withdrawn from school. The narrators of the story are the boys who watch the five Lisbon sisters and attempt to explain the problem after the event. I was relieved when the book finally ended.

[redpandabear · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Through the observations and discoveries of a group of teenage boys, the tragedy of the Lisbon family is revealed. Brought up in an authoritarian household, the five daughters all commit suicide. This is the story of the events which led up to their deaths and effect they left on the town they lived in. At times the story dragged, but the wording was beautiful, and the story in itself is haunting. It doesn't ultimately solve the mystery of why they killed themselves, but does a good job of explaining in detail all the factors which led up to their deaths. After reading (and absolutely loving) Middlesex, I was excited to read this. Eugenides is an extremely talented writer in that he makes the details more interesting than they really are. The tone of the book is pretty dark, which is interesting for a story about youth, but ultimately I guess it's because it's more about the passing of youth and everything that's lost.

[poprockz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Close second to Middlesex. Can't wait to read The Marriage Plot.

[rdhawk6886 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The narrators' collective voice remind me of a Wes Anderson film where the texture of the story is authenticated through recording of the small details. Where Anderson introduces complex melancholic human situations, he allows them to dissapate into the absurd. I like Anderson. The difference here is the ripening of youth is looked at through a melancholic lens, the absurdities of that time remembered, but those sentiments are not side stepped. I found the focus to be somewhat morbid but I would not describe as dark. Although there are certainly more refined interpretations, for me the "virgins" represent youth itself -- where things, particularly with the opposite sex, take on mythic perfect proportions that we never fully know or understand and which must die in order to preserve them in that state. Full recommendation.

[megan2143 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was wonderful in so many ways. I love how the plot is set up. As the reader, you know from the first sentence (well, actually from the title) that all of the Lisbon sisters will be dead by the end of the novel. How could a book be interesting when you already know the ending? Well, that was not the case with this book. The reader is pretty much kept in the dark as to why the Lisbon sisters do what they do. You have no idea what they are thinking or what is going on in their household. The only glimpse you get is through the group of boys who "study" them both before and after their deaths. I think that this is what makes the book work so well. If it was told from a sister's point of view, there would be no story and no mystery. All of your questions would be answered. Thankfully, this is not the case. This is sort of a spoiler so be warned: I was suprised that the sisters, except for Cecelia, all killed themselves on the same night. For some reason I thought they were going to do it one by one. The fact that they all did it at once makes it more of a mystery as to why they did it, and also more shocking. I love that the book really has no answer to this question. As the reader, your guess is just as good as the boys who witness/went through it. I love how this book is sort of surreal and dreamlike but still feels like it is something that could happen in your neighborhood. I completely loved this book and is now one of my all-time favorites!

[foolplustime · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to like this more.It was very well written - insert various burblings about the male gaze - however, I feel it suffered from a lack of grounding context. The story is recounted from this non-specific point in the future by this/these narrator/s, but there wasn't, for me, the reason for it. You've got this male gaze but I didn't feel it had the level of self-awareness there; it doesn't feel quite as deliberate as it could in either direction (ignorance is a great trick to pull).As a result, I felt the ending sputtered and fizzled out rather than drawing to a close. Lacking, but the rest of it was excellent.

[tjwilson_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are places where one wonders about the conceit of this story, but all is well wrapped up in the end. Black humor and vicious satire abound but with an air of sentimentality. Sadness and mockery converge in this book.There is sure to be a final guttural sound like "hm," "huh," "hrmm," etc. after reading the last page, closing the book and staring at its cover.

[nicola26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a pretty decent book, thought not as spectacular as I thought it was going to be. I'm not sure how I felt about not really knowing a whole lot about the narrator- it annoyed me a bit but it did give the book a unique feel. All the characters were pretty interesting and the story itself was different. The writing is beautiful, though I felt it dragged on far too much at parts. Overall it was a good book, but I can't say I loved it.