The Virgin Suicides

American living classic Jeffrey Eugenides gained worldwide recognition right after the release of his debut novel “The Virgin Suicides.” The author is convinced: “This book should be read—to remember yourself at thirteen, to understand how not to treat your children once they turn thirteen.”

The novel’s main heroines are five sisters of the Lisbon family (parents: a religious fanatic mother and a powerless father). Thirteen-year-old Cecelia, the youngest, takes her own life. And the surviving sisters, who are close in age, capture everyone’s attention. Several boys—who later turn into aging men—fall in love with these beautiful girls for life. For many years they keep five suitcases containing priceless relics, question witnesses to the tragedy, and try to find the missing pieces of the puzzle in order to understand—why?

But the girls themselves explain everything: “We just want to live. If, of course, they let us.” But they didn’t let them. The book was adapted into a film in 1999 by director Sofia Coppola, for whom it was her feature-film debut.