Alice Sebold is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 novelist. She has published three books: Lucky

Lucky (memoir)

Lucky is a 1999 memoir by Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones. The memoir describes her experiences of being raped and how the experience shaped the rest of her life.-Summary:...

(1999), The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones is a 2002 novel by Alice Sebold. It is the story of a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from her personal Heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death. The novel received much critical...

(2002) and The Almost Moon

The Almost Moon

The Almost Moon is the third book and second novel by American writer Alice Sebold, author of her memoir, Lucky and The Lovely Bones. It was released by Little, Brown and Company in the United States on October 16, 2007.-Synopsis:...

(2007).
Sebold was born in Madison, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin

Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

. She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from Great Valley High School

Great Valley High School

Great Valley High School is a high school in eastern Chester County. It is located near Malvern, Pennsylvania. It is located on the same campus as Great Valley Middle School. It is the only high school of the Great Valley School District....

 in Malvern, Pennsylvania

Malvern, Pennsylvania

Malvern is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,998 at the 2010 census. The main road through the borough is King Street, although the borough is also bordered by Paoli Pike on the south, and is near US 30 on the north. The primary cross street is Warren...

 in 1980. She then enrolled in Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

. In the early hours of May 8, 1981, she was raped while walking home through a park off campus. She reported the crime to the police, who took her statement and remarked that a young woman had once been murdered in the same location.

Sebold returned home to Pennsylvania to live with her family for the summer before beginning her sophomore year at Syracuse.
After some months at home Sebold returned to Syracuse to finish her bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 and to study writing.