In Lucky, a memoir long-hailed for its blistering honesty and wit, Alice Sebold reveals how her life was irrevocably changed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was raped and beaten inside a tunnel near her campus. In this same tunnel, a girl had been raped and dismembered. By comparison, Alice was told by police, she was lucky.

Though Alice’s friends and family try their best to offer understanding and support, in the end it is Alice’s formidable spirit which resonates most in these pages. In a narrative both painful and inspiring, Alice Sebold shines a light on the true experience of violent trauma. Sebold’s redemption turns out to be as hard-won as it is real.