Living in the suburbs

The Lovely Bones is very specifically set in 1970s American suburbia. Look at this image from the film.

• What do you observe in the room that helps create the world of 1970s suburbia?
• What other films are you familiar with that are set in American suburbia? Describe the settings and their atmosphere.

Abigail Salmon's feeling of loneliness in the suburbs is illustrated at several points in the narrative. Her grief and loss make this previously endured emptiness unbearable. The tensions for Abigail between motherhood and her sense of self as a woman are explored in the novel in some detail.

'I want to be more than a mother' (chapter 16)

• In what ways might the film visually represent the changes she goes through during the course of the narrative?