The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this searing portrait
of a to-the-death struggle between a mother and a daughter.

Clair Knightly and her daughter Helen are locked in a relationship so
unrelenting that it has sucked the air out of both of their lives. And as
this electrifying novel opens, Helen crosses a boundary she never dreamt she
would even approach. But while her act is almost unconscious, it also seems
like the fulfillment of a lifetime’s buried desire.

Over the next twenty-four hours, Helen’s life rushes in at her as she
confronts the choices that have brought her to this crossroads. A woman who
has spent a lifetime trying to win the love of a mother who had none to
spare, she now faces an uncertain and dangerous freedom.

In The Almost Moon, Sebold explores the complex ties within families, the
meaning of devotion and the fragility of the boundary that separates us from
our darkest impulses. This is an unforgettable novel, a raw and powerful
story, written with the clarity and insight that only Alice Sebold can bring
to the page.