What implications does The Lovely Bones have on life? How is The Lovely Bones realistic?

's novel
is realistic because its characters grapple with grief in
"unheroic" ways.  Jack Salmon becomes almost obsessed with finding Susie's murderer;
and rather than dealing with his grief, Jack channels all of his feelings of loss into his
search.  His wife Abigail also cannot seem to properly deal with Susie's disappearance and
death, and she retreats from her family and eventually has an affair and temporarily abandons
her family.  These parents are not able to remain strong for their other children, and the
family suffers.  But Jack's and Abigail's responses to their daughter's death are very real and
understandable.  The Lovely Bones has implications on how we deal with
grief, and what we expect from others while we are dealing with grief.  The portrayal of the
Salmon parents in the novel suggests the harsh reality of dealing with the death of a loved
one.