The Lovely Bones Book Summary

The Lovely Bones – A Heavenly Vigilance

Brief Summary:

Explicating the divine journey of a 14-year-old girl named Susie, The Lovely Bone by Alice Seabold unfolds an amalgamation of grief, love, and blissful connections. It showcases Susie’s observance of her family’s and the killer’s life from heaven. 

Summary of Significant Notions:

Characters and Connections:

The Lovely Bones introduces various characters with Susie Salmon holding the center stage and George Harvey as the prominent antagonist. Some other essential characters are Susie’s father Jack Salmon, mother Abigail, sister Lindsay, brother Buckley, and Susie’s friends Ruth Connors and Ray Singh. In fact, the story starts with 36-year-old Harvey raping and murdering Susie. From here, all the twists and turns start with the suspense of Susie’s murder remaining intact.

Aftermath of Susie’s Demise:

Though Susie’s family is shattered with her death, they find ways to cope with the situation. Indeed, Jack is suspicious of their neighbor George Harvey because of his weird behavior. But, the eventual inability of the police to find the truth brings utter dismay to the Salmon family. In all these conditions, Abigail starts distancing herself from the family and cheats on her husband. She leaves her family and kids behind to suffer as Susie’s brother Buckley is too young to understand the complex flow of events in their lives. 

On the other hand, Susie’s sister Lindsay becomes the essential navigator of the family and navigates the family from such emotional turmoil. She develops into a strong independent woman. Besides this, Jack starts building model ships as a distraction from his grief. Nevertheless, Susie sees all the events from her heavenly abode and feels bad for not being able to do anything for her family. 

Suspicious Developments:

As Jack gets suspicious of George Harvey, Lindsay tries to help her father in proving his point. In this matter, she sneaks into Harvey’s house in his absence. Though she finds a drawing of an underground den, Lindsay has to leave because of Harvey’s sudden return. Later on, a piece of evidence indicated George Harvey to be the suspect. But, he had fled from Norristown before he could be caught. 

Twists and Turns:

After Harvey left Norristown, lots of twists and turns occurred in the town. Later on, Lindsay and her boyfriend Samuel got engaged. They started living separately from their family and worked hard to meet ends. Another development explains Jack suffering a heart attack after his strong argument with his son Buckley. This prompted Abigail to return and Buckley did not approve her arrival because of his troubled childhood. Such an emotional turmoil did not turn favorable for Buckley. These twists further met a bumpy turn when George Harvey returned to Norristown. Till now, the town had developed beyond his expectations which led him to approach the underground den where he found Ruth and Ray. At that time, he retorted back. Needless to say, Harvey got punished for his misdeed when he got hit in the shoulder overseeing a woman and died. 

Susie’s and Her Feelings:

Susie has been watching the emotional turmoil prevailing in the family from heaven and tries to communicate with others. Bring a spirit, she is unable to do anything to support her family in such matters. Though Ruth feels her presence, Susie enters her body to make love with Ray. In fact, her feelings for Ray had developed before her death and could not be communicated. While making love, Ray could feel Susie in Ruth’s body and was glad enough that Susie was back with him for a brief period. Later on, she departs back to her heavenly abode.