Chapter 1
Susie Salmon tells of the day she was murdered. She was walking home from school
through the cornfield when her shady neighbor, Mr. Harvey, startled her. He brought her
down into his secret underground “clubhouse” that he claims is for all of the children in
the neighborhood to play in. Once they are out of sight, Mr. Harvey begins to touch Susie
and then tells her to take her clothes off so that he can make sure that she is a virgin.
Susie knew that her only option was to cooperate and she is raped, her hat is used as a
gag. All that Susie can think about is her family, for she is certain that she will never see
them again, and Mr. Harvey pulls out a knife and tells Susie to say, “I love you” and then
kills her.
The story takes place in 1973, which was a time that the idea of raping young girls and
murder seemed unreachable. Susie was 14, which at the time fourteen year olds were
more like eleven because they were not as mature.
Chapter 2
Susie is now in Heaven and meets Holly, her new roommate, and Franny, their intake
counselor. From Heaven Susie can see everything on earth that she desires, and watches
over the investigation of her murder. A neighbor’s dog finds Susie’s severed elbow, and
investigators discover blood in the cornfield she was murdered as well as her salivacovered hat most likely used to gag her. It is assumed that Susie is dead. Susie’s sister,
Lindsey, tries to move on with her life by avoiding the situation and by pretending that it
never happened.
The author’s picture of heaven is what every person dreams that it is: a perfect retreat
after death. But Susie has a difficult time dealing with her death, for she believes that her
life had not been finished on Earth. Within the text, the word “Earth” is capitalized while
“heaven” is lowercased. This shows how she views each world, and that her heart
belongs on Earth. The Salmons’ keep reiterating that “nothing is ever certain” as if they
believe it will protect them from the truth of Susie’s death. Buckley draws a picture of
where he believes Susie is, which is an “in-between”, marked by a thick blue line
between the earth and the horizon. This blue line is significant in that it demonstrates
Susie’s transition from Earth to heaven, just like the transition between childhood and
adulthood, which was the state she was in when she left Earth.
Chapter 3
At the beginning of the chapter, Susie tells of her soul departing from her body on Earth
and how she touched a schoolmate named Ruth. Susie is watching her from above as
Ruth is on a mission to find out whom she had seen and what its story was. A flashback
to Susie’s eleventh birthday shows when she snuck a peak at her present, which was a
brand new camera. She sneaks out onto the porch and snaps a shot of her mother staring
into the distance. Susie had never seen this side of her mother before, so she kept the
picture. From above, Susie watches as Lindsey and her father both sneak into Susie’s
untouched room and cherish it, for it is the only thing that they have left of her.
When Susie touches Ruth, it foreshadows that they will soon be a part of each other
again. In heaven, we notice that Susie tries to seek the comfort she desires on Earth in
Holly, but it cannot be obtained. Mr. Salmon undergoes a stage of anger, and during this
time he smashes all of the models that he built with Susie. The breaking of the models
displays his anger towards the shattering of his family that was built to be beautiful.
While he is breaking the models, he sees Susie for a moment and feels comforted as well
as the comfort Buckley brings him. Susie’s charm bracelet becomes a symbol of Susie,
each charm representing something on Earth that she had left behind.
Chapter 4
Mr. Harvey has cleaned up the evidence. He drags Susie’s severed body parts across the
neighborhood in a bag and nobody suspects anything. Her body is stuffed into a metal
safe and Mr. Harvey pays twenty dollars to drop the safe into a sinkhole up the road that
is managed by a quaint family. On his way back home he stops at a construction site and
throws Susie’s charm bracelet into what will be a man made lake. Susie’s soul is
following him this entire time, and she watches him as he reads a book that inspires him
to build a Bridal tent. Mr. Salmon is outside and wonders what Mr. Harvey is up to, so he
helps him out. Mr. Salmon suddenly begins to question to himself where Mr. Harvey has
been during the investigation, and Mr. Harvey retreats back to his house. Next to his bed
is the blood coated knife that was used to butcher Susie.
We come to realize that Mr. Harvey is a serial killer who thrives off of the sounds his
victims make before their lives are ripped away from them. He also takes a souvenir from
each of his murders; with Susie it was her charm bracelet and the knife that he used to kill
her. In heaven Susie notices dogs around her, which are symbols of the supernatural and
hunters, and she becomes a hunter of Mr. Harvey. It is ironic when Mrs. Flanagan states
that the safe Mr. Harvey brings to the sinkhole could contain a dead body, because
Susie’s body is in there. When Mr. Salmon helps Mr. Harvey with his tribal tent, Salmon
becomes suspicious of Harvey. This foreshadows Jack Salmon’s obsession with Harvey
for the majority of the novel.
Chapter 5
Mr. Salmon cannot stop thinking about Mr. Harvey, so he calls detective Len Fenerman
and asks that he would stop by Harvey’s place. Buckley, Susie’s four-year-old brother,
has begun to notice his sister’s absence and has been asking his parents of her
whereabouts, and they consistently change the subject. Meanwhile, Len makes his way
over to Harvey’s house and asks him a few questions. We find out that Harvey was
widowed and his wife’s name was Leah, every year he pitches a Bridal tent in
remembrance of their wedding in the winter. Len finds him to be a bit off, but nothing
that constitutes him as a murderer so he leaves and reports to Mr. Salmon. Susie’s father
claims that Harvey was married to a Sophie. Christmas day comes and so does a boy by
the name of Samuel Heckler, whom Lindsey has a crush on, bearing a gift. Susie begins
to feel alive knowing how happy her sister was within that moment.
Jack Salmon has entered into the second stage of the grieving process, which is anger and
guilt. He feels that he should have been able to prevent Susie’s death. Abigail remains in
the first stage of the grieving process, which is anger. She begins to think about how her
children are preventing her from living the life she wants. Abigail wishes that her
children would disappear for a while, which foreshadows her running away. Susie is also
grieving because she cannot accept her own death. Lindsey is the only one who is trying
to move on with her life. She meets Samuel and he takes her under his wing. Their
relationship throughout these times foreshadows their strong relationship in the future.
The Salmon family tries to paint a better picture of Susie’s “disappearance” for Buckley
because they assume that he is too young to understand death. But Buckley keeps the
shoe from the monopoly game as a souvenir of the life he shared with Susie.
Chapter 6
Ray Singh is the bad boy, smart, handsome, foreign, and he makes Susie’s heart melt. He
influenced her to ditch class, with him, for the first time in her life. While ditching, they
overhear Ruth being scolded by teachers because of a provocative drawing she created.
Susie assures Ruth that she is extremely talented and they make a connection, hence why
Ruth cannot stop thinking about Susie after her death. Ray seemed to have fallen in love
with Susie, so he and Ruth have been keeping each other company before school as they
stare into the cornfield behind the school. Ruth finds a pair of gloves in the field that
Lindsey had left for Susie and she keeps them to remind her of Susie. Meanwhile, Mr.
Salmon decides to visit the Singh household in hopes to talk with Ray. He ends up
conversing with the mother, a strong and beautiful woman. Salmon explains why he
thinks that Harvey is the murderer, but Mrs. Singh does not seem to be bothered nor does
she want to hear about it. At home, Len Fenerman comes over to talk with Mr. Salmon
but he is still over at the Singh’s so he makes conversation with Mrs. Salmon. We find
that Fenerman was widowed, and his wife has been presumably murdered with no
solution as to whom the murderer is.
Susie’s memory of her moment with Ray is the prime reason for her suffering in heaven.
She will never let go of the attraction that they had for each other. This foreshadows her
need to resolve this conflict before she moves into the real Heaven. Jack visits the Singh
household to speak with the man who loved Susie just as much as he. Jack and Ray wish
that they could have told Susie that they loved her, so they share a bond over their
unfinished business. Abigail’s issues become deeper than any other within the novel as
she tries to seek comfort in the wrong places. Len Fenerman keeps pictures of all of his
unsolved cases because he feels a loss for those families whom are still left with no
answers.
Chapter 7
This chapter focuses on Buckley. Buckley is telling his friend that Susie has spoken to
him, and he brings the friend up to Susie’s room to show him a stick buried in a hole
under her mattress. The stick is dried with blood, and Susie has a flashback to the day
where she witnessed Buckley choking on that stick and came to his rescue.
Susie’s rescuing of Buckley is ironic because she couldn’t save herself.
Chapter 8
Susie is spying in on Mr. Harvey’s dreams, one of which is about a peaceful scene in
Yugoslavia. She then looks further into Harvey’s memory and glances at his childhood.
When he was a child his mother ran away and left him her amber necklace.
Harvey grew up in a dysfunctional family. He tries to make himself dream about
buildings and how his father lectured him about building to last so that he can escape
from the “not still” dreams of his victims.
Chapter 9
In this chapter we are introduced to Grandma Lynn, Abigail’s mother. She is a very
fashionable, strong-willed and superficial woman. Grandma Lynn believes that every
woman should look her best, so she teaches Lindsey about makeup. Lindsey looks at
herself in the mirror and realizes what she is: a reflection of Susie. So she decides to sleep
in the makeup and wear it to Susie’s memorial the next day. Susie watches over Ray as
he stares at her picture every chance he can get, and decides that he needs to get her face
out of his mind so he stuffs it inside a book of poems. At the memorial, Lindsey spots
Mr. Harvey lingering in the background and she faints just as he makes his unnoticed
exit.
Grandma Lynn is what the Salmon family needs to get their focus off of Susie and onto
reality. When Ray places Susie’s photo into the book of poems, he is trying to set them
both free from each other’s chains. However, nothing can heal the broken relationship
that the two shared. Lindsey sees Mr. Harvey at the memorial and faints. This is because
subconsciously she knows that her father is right, and this foreshadows her further
investigation on Harvey.
Chapter 10
It’s summer and Lindsey and Ruth are headed to the Gifted Symposium, which is a
retreat for the gifted kids statewide. Lindsey enjoys being at the symposium because
nobody seems to know her, except for Samuel and Ruth, which means that they won’t
associate her with Susie. The last week at the symposium revolves around constructing a
final project, which was expected to be a mousetrap but ended up being the topic of
“How to commit the perfect murder.” Those who had known Lindsey well knew that they
needed to shelter her, even though she claimed that she was fine. At the end we find
Lindsey and Samuel lying under a boat where they decide that they want to make love.
A connection between Ruth and Susie still exists, even though they are in two different
universes. They exist in their world the same way as the other, a world that neither of
them feels that they belong in. Meanwhile Lindsey is suffering and the only two who
know of it are Susie and Samuel.
Chapter 11
Jack Salmon’s suspicions of Mr. Harvey are burgeoning as the days go on. Harvey’s
house radiates “murderer,” and nobody feels it except for Jack. Len Fenerman makes a
visit to the Salmon household to talk with Jack. He tells him that he needs to stop
accusing Harvey and that the case will go on a hiatus. Abigail agrees with Len, and Jack
is alone. One night he looks outside and sees a flashlight making its way into the
cornfield and he assumes that it’s Harvey so he follows with his baseball bat. In the field
is Clarissa, Susie’s friend, and her boyfriend, Brian. The three of them immediately
become hysterical and Brian beats Jack with the baseball bat.
When Jack is beaten, the tables turn for Susie and her father. She begins to feel the way
he has been all along, which is guilt. She cannot help her father, and she wishes that there
were a way for her to have prevented it. Holiday instinctively knows that Harvey is
suspicious each time he encounters it. He has a stronger instinct than the police who are
powerless.
Chapter 12
Jack Salmon is rushed to the hospital to undergo surgery on his knee. Lindsey stays by
his side whenever possible, while Abigail paces in the waiting room. Len Fenerman had
been requested by Abigail to show up to the hospital and he comforts her. She pulls him
into a room and lets herself desire him. She kisses him and he tries to discourage it, but
she decides to press further as she drifts away from her life as Abigail Salmon to escape
into a different world. From above, Susie watches souls depart from their newly deceased
elderly bodies and ascend into heaven.
Chapter 13
Lindsey returns to school in the fall of 1974 with rumors buzzing around about her
“crazy” father. At home, Jack rests his leg during his extended leave of absence from
work. He and Buckley begin to form a strong father-son relationship and this helps Jack
become stronger. Jack helps Lindsey learn to shave her legs and make her transition into
a new phase in life, and they converse about Susie and their shared suspicions of Harvey.
On Thanksgiving, Grandma Lynn makes a visit and pulls Abigail out onto a walk.
Grandma Lynn confesses about her husband’s affair, and tries to make Abigail confess to
her own affair with Len. But Abigail is in denial and escapes the conversation and makes
follows the sweet scent of tobacco to Ruana Sinh’s house, where they are first introduced
to each other and make casual conversation.
Chapter 14
Lindsey has been planning on finding evidence to prove Harvey to be a suspect, and she
decides to break in when she finds him leaving the house. Susie tries to walk her through
the house and bring her to clues, but her attention is drawn away when she suddenly sees
all of Harvey’s past victims reliving the moment that he had taken their lives. Lindsey
finds her way to Harvey’s room and discovers a blueprint of the hole in the cornfield.
Harvey comes home and hears someone and almost catches Lindsey before she escapes.
He watches her as she runs home. She brings the drawing to her father, and they both
immediately connect. They know what this drawing meant, and that it meant that Harvey
is the murderer. Abigail needs to make an escape, so she uses Buckley as an excuse and
runs to pick him up. In heaven, Susie meets all of Harvey’s victims and they share their
stories.
Chapter 15
Mr. Harvey calls the police and informs them on the invasion of his house during his
absence. The police are surprised when he allows them in to search, but they find nothing
to prove Jack and Lindsey’s suspicions. They ask about the drawing Lindsey stole and he
covers with a story that convinced the police to believe that he was just a man with a
theory on the death of Susie. During this time, Abigail is picking up Buckley from Nate’s
house and requests that Len meet her at the mall. She drops Buckley off at the play area,
and meets Len in a secret room. In this room, they engage in a moment filled with their
lust, while everyone else is in check with reality and awaiting answers on Harvey’s
investigation.
Chapter 16
It is the one-year anniversary of Susie’s death. Ruth visits the grocery store and purchases
candles, and then makes her way over to Ray Sinh’s house. They have been
experimenting, both hoping that as they kiss each other that they could imagine kissing
Susie. Then they suddenly realize that on this day, they begin to have feelings for each
other. They decide that it is time to make their way to the cornfield to say good-bye to
Susie. As neighbors watch the two making their way, one by one they catch on, and soon
the whole neighborhood and many others of whom had known Susie are standing in the
middle of the cornfield, saying their good-byes as well. Lindsey waits for her father to get
home so that the whole family can join in, but Abigail decides that she doesn’t want to be
there.
Snapshots
Abigail leaves her family and moves to her father’s cabin in New Hampshire and
Grandma Lynn moves in to take her place. Hal drives Lindsey to the detective so she can
demand to be told on the status of the investigation. She sees her mother’s red scarf on
Len’s desk and comes to figure out the affair between them. Len re-examines Susie’s
evidence and comes to figure out that George Harvey is indeed the murderer, but Harvey
is nowhere to be found. Len thinks that he let a murderer get away. Abigail drives to
California and starts working at a winery. Ruth moves to New York City and Ray
becomes a pre-med student at Penn. Harvey has been traveling around the East Coast.
Hal meets a guy at his bike shop who tells of how his mother was killed by a man who
built dollhouses.
Chapter 17
Lindsey and Samuel make their way home down the highway after graduation. The
motorcycle breaks down and it begins to storm, and they seek refuge in an old abandoned
house. They fall in love with the house, as shattered as it is, and Samuel decides that he
wants to fix it up and spend the rest of his life in it with Lindsey. He proposes to her, and
they run miles in the rain to tell the Salmon family. They highly approve of Lindsey and
Samuel’s engagement and they celebrate. Buckley sees Susie once more.
Chapter 18
Ruth finds out that the sinkhole is going to be filled so she makes a trip back home. She
has been living in New York and working at a bar. In Heaven, Ruth is a celebrity because
of her ability to see the dead. Buckley has taken up the hobby of gardening. He finds the
box with Susie’s old clothes in it and intends on using it for his tomatoes. But Mr.
Salmon finds the box sentimental and won’t let his son use it. The two get into an
argument about how Jack cannot let go of Susie, causing Mr. Salmon to have a heart
attack. Susie stays by her father’s side as he lie in the hospital, and Buckley decides that
it would be better if Mr. Salmon were to be reunited with Susie in Heaven. Back in
Heaven, Susie finds her grandfather. Together, they dance for hours until he returns to
Heaven.
Chapter 19
Abigail hears of Jack’s heart attack and decides to return home after eight years. She
doesn’t recognize Lindsey but immediately recognizes Buckley. Buckley is not accepting
of his mother’s return since she had left him motherless during his life. Abigail becomes
upset about Buckley’s view of her and begins to cry. Buckley is not affected. At the
hospital, Abigail visits Jack and he is more than happy to see her. Grandma Lynn tells
Jack that Len will be stopping by for a visit.
Chapter 20
George Harvey visits a site in which one of his victims lie. The body of the girl he killed
had been dug up. He has been having recurring dreams of Lindsey as she ran away from
his house. This dream comes up whenever he feels threatened. Abigail stays with Jack at
the hospital while everyone else goes back home. Abigail realizes that she had never
stopped loving Jack, but knows that she cannot stay. While her parents are asleep, Susie
enters the hospital room. Jack senses her presence within the room, and tells Abigail.
Abigail says that she sees Susie everywhere, and they kiss.
Chapter 21
Susie begins to reminisce of her kiss with Ray as she watches him drive to the sinkhole
with Ruth before it is filled. Len drives to the hospital to visit Jack, but knows that
Abigail is there so he begins to feel guilty of his affair with her. Abigail feels wounded
when she sees Len, but recovers swiftly. Len tells of Susie’s charm that was found near a
grave in Connecticut, and how it connects to other murders. Harvey drives home in his
beat-up orange car. He has been having the Lindsey dreams again and has been seeing
images of his victims all around him. His first crime was the rape of a friend whom had
died a few years later. She sits in the passenger seat of Harvey’s car. Susie watches Ray
and Ruth as they visit the sinkhole, and Ruth sees Susie behind her. Harvey drives
through the neighborhood and watches Lindsey through the window. An officer asks
Harvey if he is lost, but he replies that he is visiting his old neighborhood. The officer
tells Harvey to leave and he takes down his license plate. Ruth sees Harvey driving
towards the sinkhole and sees his blood-soaked victims sitting in his car. She blacks out
and Lindsey falls to the earth.
Chapter 22
Susie and Ruth trade bodies for a short period. When she awakens, Susie finds herself in
Ray’s arms and she tells him to kiss her. They drive to Hal’s bike shop and step inside the
back where there is a room. Susie strips and steps into a shower and asks that Ray would
accompany her. Ray suddenly realizes that it is Susie and they make love for the rest of
the time. Susie tells him that she has been watching the two of them for years. Ray has
many questions, but Susie tells him to read Ruth’s journal. Susie returns to Heaven,
bringing Ruth back into her own body.
Chapter 23
Ray begins to read Ruth’s journal entrees as she is sleeping. He comes to realize Ruth’s
gift of seeing the dead. Jack is released from the hospital and Abigail returns home with
him for good. She goes into Susie’s room and tells Susie that she loves her, which
surprises Susie.
Bones
Grandma Lynn dies several years later but has not found Susie in Heaven yet. Lindsey
and Samuel move into their house after it is restored, and Lindsey finds that she is
pregnant. She names the child Abigail Suzanne. Lindsey becomes a therapist so that she
can help others learn to cope with tragic events. Abigail and Jack donate Susie’s
belongings to Goodwill, finally letting go of her. Ray becomes a doctor and Ruth
continues to document her findings of the dead. Susie transitions into the wide Heaven,
which is where she has been trying to get to. She has found comfort. It is here that she
watches Harvey as he tries to pursue a young girl. Susie forces an icicle above Harvey to
break and hit him, causing him to fall to his death in a ravine. His body lies in the snow.
A couple finds Susie’s bracelet at the industrial park, and the woman states that the girl
who had once owned the bracelet should be grown up by now. But Susie says that she has
not grown up.