The virgin suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

Haunting and tender, with brilliant flashes of humour, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES is the story of the disintegration of a captivating American family in 1970s suburban Michigan. The five Lisbon sisters are embalmed in the memories of the boys who worshipped them and who, twenty years on, recall their adolescence: the sisters' gauche but breathtaking appearance on the night of the homecoming dance; the brassire belonging to the beautiful, promiscuous Lux, draped over a crucifix on the wall; the records the boys played down the phone, trying desperately to penetrate the sisters' isolation; and the sultry, sleepy street across which they watched fragile lives disappear ...

Well-received at Cannes, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES movie, directed and written by Sofia Coppola (daughter of Francis Ford) and starring an impressive cast - including Kathleen Turner, James Woods and Danny DeVito - is released in the UK in Spring 2000. Theatrical prospects are good for this timely and accomplished movie which will attract young as well as more mature viewers, and may generate controversy as well.