The Lovely Bones: Chapter 19 Summary & Analysis

When Abigail arrives at the winery for her shift, she finds a note from the caretaker waiting for her: it tells her that there has been an emergency back in Norristown. She dials home and gets no answer; when she asks the operator to dial the Singhs’ number, Ruana picks up, and tells her that an ambulance pulled up to the Salmon house a few hours ago, but that she doesn’t know who was taken away. Abigail begins dialing local hospitals in Norristown, until she finds one that tells her Jack was admitted recently. She asks what happened to him, and when the operator asks what her relationship to the patient is, she speaks words she has not spoken in years, and tells the operator that she is Jack’s wife. The person on the other end tells her that Jack has had a heart attack.

Abigail rushes to the airport and boards a connecting flight to Philadelphia. When she lands in Chicago, she calls the hospital and asks to speak to Lynn; she lets her mother know that she is on her way. Lynn reveals that Jack has been asking for her, and also lets Abigail know that Lindsey and Samuel are engaged. Before she hangs up, Lynn warns Abigail of one more thing: Jack, in his groggy state, has been asking for Susie, too.

Abigail goes outside of the airport for a cigarette. She takes her wallet out of her back pocket and retrieves from it a school picture of Susie. She studies it carefully, taking in all the remembered details of Susie’s face, until she hears the announcement for her flight over the loudspeaker. Turning around, she sees a tiny, struggling tree growing near the airport doors. She props Susie’s picture against its trunk and goes back inside.

On the flight to Philadelphia, Abigail realizes that by abandoning her children she has relinquished her role as a mother. She reflects on how she never felt the calling to be a mother, and believes she has been “punished in the most horrible and unimaginable way” for never having wanted Susie in the first place.

When Abigail disembarks the plane in Philadelphia, she barely recognizes Lindsey, who is waiting for her at the gate, or Samuel, who stands by her side. She does not even notice Buckley, sitting off to the side, until she is halfway down the carpeted ramp toward him. When she sees him, she sees herself at twelve reflected in his chubby cheeks and heavy legs, and is shocked by the resemblance.

On the way to the parking garage, Abigail apologizes for lying to Lindsey—their eyes meet, and the secret of Len hangs in the air between them. Once in the car, Lindsey tells Abigail that the hospital won’t let Buckley in to see Jack because of his age. Abigail assures Lindsey and Buckley she’ll try and do something, but Buckley mutters “fuck you” under his breath and refuses to even look at Abigail. Samuel, trying to ease the tension, announces that everyone will feel better after they all get to see Jack together.

Abigail finds herself in the same hospital she came to eight years ago in the middle of the night, when Jack went out into the cornfield. She recalls her first kiss with Len, which took place on the balcony that day, and feels the impulse to flee back to California, but as she walks into the hospital room and sees Jack, everything else falls away. Abigail runs to Jack and grabs his hand, and he opens his eyes to look at her. Jack greets her warmly, calling her “Ocean Eyes,” and jokingly marvels at “what it took to get [her] home.”

Grandma Lynn tiptoes out of the room and into the waiting area, intercepting a nurse carrying a message for Jack Salmon. Lynn reads the note: it is from Len Fenerman, and it promises that he will visit soon. Lynn folds the note neatly and places it in her purse.