The Survivors

Jane Harper’s fourth book, The Survivors, is set on the coast of Tasmania in the fictional tourist town of Evelyn Bay. The Survivors is a departure from Harper’s outback noir set in the dusty interior of Australia and takes readers to a community where the sea shapes not only its everyday life but also represents tragedies in the past. The novel was shortlisted for both The Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction and The ABA Nielsen Book Bestsellers’ Choice for an adult fiction book of the year in 2021. It was longlisted for the Indie Book Awards for Fiction in 2021 and the 2022 International Dublin Literary Award. The Survivors sold 20,000 copies in the first week of release in Australia. Harper’s books have been published in over forty countries.

This guides uses the 2021 Flatiron Books edition of The Survivors.

Content Warning: The Survivors includes the death of a child, violence towards women, and attempted suicide through overdose.

Plot Summary

Kieran Elliott has not been to his home in the small coastal town of Evelyn Bay, Tasmania, for three years, but when his mother Verity decides to move his father Brian to assisted living, Kieran takes his partner Mia and their three-month-old daughter Audrey to help with the transition. Brian suffers from dementia and Verity can no longer manage his care. On the first day home, Kieran and Mia see Ash, Kieran’s childhood friend who now runs a successful landscaping business. He invites the couple out that night for a reunion with their friends Olivia and Sean. Ash, now Olivia’s partner, points across the beach to Bronte Laidler, Olivia’s roommate. Bronte, an art student, is in Evelyn Bay for the summer working on a project. Later, the friends reconnect over drinks, but Kieran is distracted by the stares of locals. Twelve years ago, Kieran’s brother Finn and another man, Toby, were killed trying to rescue Kieran from the cliffs. Kieran has never recovered from the guilt and shame, and when he overhears Toby’s son Liam telling Bronte that Kieran is a murderer, he wonders if returning home was a good idea. Their friend Sean Gilroy, Toby’s brother, joins them at the pub. Sean who now runs Finn and Toby’s diving business has become a mentor to his nephew Liam. Later that evening, a white car veers dangerously close to Mia and Kieran while they are walking home from the pub. The next morning Olivia finds Bronte dead on the beach, and the small town is stunned by the act of violence.

Kieran returns daily to the beach and ventures to the caves trying to piece together the day of the historic storm that changed his life. As teenagers, Kieran and his friends enjoyed exploring the caves. Ash and Kieran spent much of their time drinking and wooing young women, but Sean was shy and awkward. He was in love with Olivia but could never find the courage to tell her. That summer, Kieran and Olivia began visiting the caves for romantic trysts. On the day of the storm, despite his brother’s warnings to stay out of the caves near high tide, Kieran and Olivia ventured into the south cave as the storm clouds thickened outside. After losing track of time and the worsening weather, they fought the rising water and pelting rain back to the cliff path, but Kieran could not make it past a rock outcropping. Olivia called for help. Toby and Finn appeared in their boat, but it was overtaken by a wave and both men drowned. That day, a girl named Gabby Birch went missing and her body was never recovered. Her purple backpack washed up several days after the storm. Kieran carries guilt over his brother’s death 12 years ago, and the town of Evelyn Bay never recovered from the losses of that day. Gabby’s mother, Trish, suffers from depression and suicidal thoughts as she never came to terms with her daughter’s disappearance.

Back in the present, Liam becomes a person of interest when his testimony reveals he gave Bronte a ride home from the bar where they both work. Liam, who still carries wounds from losing his father at an early age, claims he is innocent, and his uncle Sean works to convince his friends that Liam was not involved in her death. Sergeant Chris Renn begins investigating Bronte’s death aided by Detective Sue Pendlebury from Hobart. Kieran is disturbed to learn they will question his mother and father. Brian has been escaping the house and walking up and down the beach at night. The night of Bronte’s death, he was found wandering the road. While Pendleton questions Verity about Brian, she realizes Brian was the last person to see Gabby Birch on the day of her disappearance 12 years ago. Unsettled by his father’s worsening condition and the reminders of the past, Kieran realizes the events of 12 years ago and those of the previous night may be connected.

Tensions rise as the locals gather for a community meeting where Bronte’s parents vow to expose all Evelyn Bay’s secrets if that is what it takes to find the murderer. Pendleton reveals that Bronte’s camera and laptop are missing, and Kieran wonders if there is evidence on either device that will explain what happened. Crime writer George Barlin, watches as the townspeople attack each other online. Scrolling through the Evelyn Bay Online Community Hub or EBOCH, Kieran finds photos Bronte had taken all over town, and in particular, inside the caves.

While exploring the caves again, Kieran runs into Pendlebury who reveals that Barlin, while researching the historic storm, discovered the supposed time of Finn and Toby’s rescue attempt does not match the cell phone records. Shocked by the news that he potentially did not cause Finn and Toby’s death, Kieran is momentarily relieved, but he soon learns from Sergeant Renn that the police found Gabby’s backpack on Finn and Toby’s boat but kept the evidence hidden from the families. Desperate to clear his brother’s name and uncover the truth, Kieran plumbs his memory. Realizing the names scratched on the cave walls hold the answers, he enters the caverns to find Sean emerging from inside with tools to remove the names. Kieran confronts his friend as the tide swiftly rises, and Sean confesses to the crimes.

On the day of the storm, Sean stashed Gabby’s backpack in the boat’s dry box and took her to the caves to look for Olivia. As they explored, Gabby carved their names into the rock. Sean kissed Gabby, and when she rebuffed his advance, he left the cave without making sure she made it out before the tide flooded it. Sean hoped no one would ever know about his embarrassment or his cowardice. Twelve years later when Bronte arrived and began photographing the caves, Sean became worried. One night he went to her cottage to retrieve a flashlight she borrowed from him. She showed him her photos, one of which prominently showed the carved names. Sean lured Bronte to the beach to look at the moon, strangled her, and tossed her body into the ocean.

As Kieran listens to his friend’s confession, the waters continue to rise, and Sean turns to walk deeper into the cave. Kieran begs him to come with him, and for a moment considers trudging into the cave to save his friend, but as he hears Mia’s voice cry out from atop the cliffs, Kieran exits. He walks out of the cave and into the light. Mia helps him scale the wall to safety as Sean is lost in the darkness of the flooded cave.