The Lovely Bones Study Guide

The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones is a novel which tells the story of Susie Salmon, a fourteen-year-old girl murdered in the early 1970s. After her death, Susie watches her loved ones cope with their loss from Heaven, witnessing the detectives try and fail to discover her murderer, her parents marriage fall apart, and her siblings and classmates grow up and move on. Though Susie will never be able to rejoin the living, watching over them enables her, and those she left behind, to eventually find peace.

The Lovely Bones Characters

Table of Contents

Susie Salmon

  • Fourteen year-old murder victim
  • Watches her family and those around her in the afterlife
  • Attempts to reveal her killer and comfort her family
  • Looks forward to HighSchool
  • the oldest of her family
  • crush on Ray Singh
  • Died on December 6, 1973, and lived in Philadelphia

Jack Salmon

  • Husband of Abigail, Father of Susie, Lindsey, and Buckley
  • Determined to find the killer of his daughter
  • Cannot let go of his dead daughter, no matter the impact on his marriage and surviving children
  • Believed Mr.Harvey was the one who killed his daughter

Abigail Salmon

  • Wife of Jack, mother of Susie, Lindsey, and Buckley
  • Desires to be more than a mother after her daughter’s death
  • Abandons her family after her daughter’s death and goes to California to work in a winery
  • Has a brief affair with Detective Len Fenerman

Lindsey Salmon

  • Susie’s sister who played soccer, and was a year younger than Susie
  • Determined to find her sister’s killer but does not want to be defined by her sister’s murder
  • Watched by Susie. Susie lives and grows vicariously by watching Lindsey’s life

Buckley Salmon

  • Susie and Lindsey’s little brother
  • Angry and isolated after being abandoned by Abigail
  • Sees Susie as he grows up

Grandma Lynn

  • Abigail’s mother who loves life, shopping, and cocktails
  • Moves in with the Salmons after Abigail leaves her family

George Harvey

  • A serial killer who rapes and murders Susie
  • Haunted by dreams of Lindsey
  • Suffers from“not still” dreams before committing murders
  • Saves a memento from each victim

Len Fenerman

  • Detective investigating the murder of Susie Salmon
  • Develops feelings for Abigail
  • Feels As though he has failed to find Susie's murderer George Harvey and loving Susie's mother, Abigail.

Ray Singh

  • The only boy Susie kisses before she is killed
  • Remains connected to Susie, even after her death

Ruth Connors

  • The last person Susie touches as her soul rushes away from Earth
  • Can see the dead and know the cause of death
  • Writes poetry for the dead
  • Has an obsession with the death of Susie

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