virgin Tag

Jeffrey Eugenides’ debut novel stays probably the most astute and sensitive portrayals of sweet sixteen suicide ever written – how did he get it so right? Jeffrey Eugenides’ debut novel, The Virgin Suicides, was published 30 years ago this week, on 1 April 1993. The story, now revered as a contemporary classic, follows the five Lisbon sisters living in a leafy Michigan suburb in the course of the Nineteen Seventies. Because the title suggests, the ladies grow increasingly isolated by the actions of their draconian mother, and eventually all commit suicide. It’s narrated by a chorus of the neighbourhood’s boys – now men – who remain fascinated by the tragedy, a long time...