In bringing Sebold's meditative novel to the big screen, Jackson depicts a world between heaven and earth.

CNN: 'The Lovely Bones' is a 'positive' film, says Peter Jackson

In doing so, Susie follows the narrative path set for her in the striking 2002 novel by Alice Sebold on which this much-awaited adaptation by Peter Jackson is based.

CNN: Review: 'The Lovely Bones'

But adapting Sebold's novel had its challenges.

CNN: 'The Lovely Bones' is a 'positive' film, says Peter Jackson

The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold.

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Surprisingly, the conceit of looking down from heaven works nicely, since Ms Sebold avoids the precious, making Susie's paradise agreeably ordinary, a place where the dead learn to let go of the living while below the living learn to let go of the dead.

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