The Bone Clocks

Ed and Aoife are out for an early morning walk on Brighton Pier when they bump into a woman who claims to be an old friend of Holly’s, Immaculée Constantin. Ed feigns recognition, and Constantin talks to Aoife about her invisible eye, as well as those of Holly and Jacko. Constantin suddenly departs before Ed can ask if she wants to say hi to Holly. Aoife asks Ed to have her future read by a fortune teller; when Ed refuses, Aoife has a tantrum.

Throughout the wedding, Holly stays mad at Ed. In the bathroom, Ed and Dave talk about Gravesend, as well as the passage of time. Ed mentions the extension of his engagement in Iraq, and Dave suggests that Ed might regret leaving his family in the long run. During the reception, the groom’s family asks Ed why the West’s interventions in the Middle East have gone so poorly. Ed gives a frank answer about Western actions triggering a civil war in Iraq and forcing many of its residents to live without jobs, a functional government, or access to basic utilities. This has escalated civilian tensions, which in turn escalates military intervention.

Ed meets Holly’s Great-Aunt Eilísh, who reminisces about Jacko; calling him a changeling, Eilísh claims that he was smarter and wiser than he appeared to be. She believes that sometime in his early life, his soul had changed. Eilísh confesses that she’s been instructed to share this information with Ed by precognitive voices she refers to as the Script, similar to Holly’s Radio People. Later, Ed drunkenly tells one of the groom’s relatives that he’s married to the news. He gets a text from his magazine editor arranging for an interview in Cairo. Ed is about to accept when he remembers that Aoife is performing in the school play on the same day as the interview.

Ed goes back to the hotel room to work on his laptop while Aoife naps. Aoife asks why Ed won’t let her future be read by the fortune teller. He explains that, if he can’t change the future, he would rather not know if something bad might happen. Ed takes a nap with Aoife, but is soon woken up by Holly, who tells him that Aoife has disappeared. Ed immediately suspects that Aoife has gone to visit the fortune teller on her own. He races down to the pier, and then to the fortune teller’s shop. Aoife is nowhere to be found.

Ed returns to the hotel, where Holly has a seizure, during which she utters the words “ten-fifteen.” The fortune teller, Dwight Silverwind, tells Ed that Holly has communicated a message direct from the Script. He urges Ed to think about what those numbers might mean, and Ed theorizes it might be a room at the hotel. He and Dwight proceed to Room 1015, where they find Aoife. Aoife got lost trying to find her grandparents’ room. Ed tells Holly exactly how he found their daughter, which allows them to reconcile. They talk about Holly’s premonitions, and Ed encourages her to write about them. He confesses his guilt over the deaths of two of his companions in Iraq, Nasser and Aziz. He also admits to being addicted to work, even though this is precisely what led to his companions’ deaths.

The chapter flashes back to Ed’s time in Iraq. At a press conference in the Green Zone, the military stressed that they were helping to reconstruct Iraq. The reporters’ questions on military impact indicated doubt about this claim, so Ed planned to head to Fallujah to get the real story. Ed, together with a local fixer named Nasser and their photographer, Aziz, traveled to the city, avoiding getting caught by either side. They reached a clinic close to the city and interviewed doctors and refugees. Aziz asked Ed why Britain had involved itself in the Middle East. Before Ed could answer, they helped a makeshift ambulance to bring an unconscious boy into the clinic.

On their way back to Baghdad, Ed, Nasser, and Aziz were stopped by a patrol of US Marines. One of them threatened Aziz, so Ed stepped in, revealing his identity. He assured the soldiers that neither he, nor Nasser, nor Aziz, knew anything about a helicopter that had been recently shot down. The Marines resentfully let them go. Driving away, Nasser talked about his life through the wars and the death of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Ed returned to his hotel and met with another journalist named Big Mac, who told him about the possibility of an impending ceasefire. As Ed went up to his room, a bomb exploded outside. Ed survived, but Nasser and Aziz died in the blast.

As the wedding night ends, Ed looks upon Aoife and remembers how their family began.

Richard Cheeseman writes a scathing review of Crispin Hershey’s latest novel, a work with fantasy and metafictional elements. Crispin worries that this may affect future book deals, leaving him unable to sustain his lifestyle. He is also hesitant to take up related jobs, like teaching creative writing. When he appears as a guest on a literary festival broadcast, he makes anti-gay comments about Richard, among other cantankerous remarks. He denies that his novel’s writer character bears any resemblance to himself.

Crispin is surprised to learn that many of the people at the festival are actually there to meet Holly Sykes, whose memoir The Radio People has captured the public’s attention. Crispin is given a book of poems entitled Soul Carnivores by an Asian American girl named Soleil Moore. Crispin refuses the book, but Soleil insists that he receive it, according to the Script.

Despite forgetting his pass, Crispin is allowed into a party after being mistaken for English novelist Jeffrey Archer. A stranger named Levon Frankland approaches Crispin and claims to have been friends with Crispin’s father, a famous filmmaker. Levon advises Crispin to “bury that hatchet” (303) before disappearing. Crispin goes to meet with a couple who manage Britain’s most prestigious literary prize. They are talking to Crispin’s new young rival, Nick Greek, who is discussing the work of American novelist Norman Mailer. Crispin learns then that Nick’s novel is about the war in Afghanistan, where his brother died. The couple obviously likes Nick more than Crispin.

Ten months later, Crispin is attending a literary festival in Cartagena, Colombia. He is alone because of a trial separation with his wife, Zoë. When he learns that Richard Cheeseman is also in town, he goes up to him and loudly praises him in the hopes that his behavior will be reported online.

During a reception dinner, Crispin’s Spanish-language editor gives him drugs and a phone at his request. When Crispin sees that Holly is also at the same dinner, they meet up and reminisce about the festival they attended the year before. Holly’s memoir has proven to be a huge success in Spain; Crispin meets Holly’s publisher, Carmen Salvat, who also published Nick Greek’s prize-winning novel. Crispin entertains a fantasy of his family suddenly dying, which ends with him returning to Cartagena.

At the end of the night, Crispin helps a drunk Richard back to his room.

Crispin attends Richard’s event at the festival, where Richard reads a novel excerpt about a young man who dies by suicide, driving his car off a cliff. During the reading, Crispin leaves and returns to the hotel, sneaking back into Richard’s room with a spare key card. He plants the drugs he obtained from his editor in Richard’s suitcase.

Crispin returns to the festival and listens in on Holly’s reading, which is about Jacko’s appearance at the underpass. Crispin is once again surprised by her success. Later, Crispin calls the customs desk at Heathrow Airport to inform them about Richard Cheeseman’s possession of drugs.

The now-divorced Crispin is in Perth, Australia, for another literary festival. He listens to an academic named Aphra Booth read a position paper. Crispin gets into an onstage argument with Aphra over Crispin’s narcissism and misogyny. Aphra also criticizes his support for Richard Cheeseman, who was convicted for drug smuggling in Colombia. When Crispin viciously insults her, she threatens to sue him.

Crispin regrets his set up of Richard, yet refuses to confess to planting the drugs out of fear that he might take Richard’s place in prison. Crispin bikes down to a lighthouse in Perth and bumps into Holly and Aoife. Aoife is studying archeology and Holly is visiting her daughter during her gap year. Aoife also mentions that Ed died in 2009, killed by a missile in Syria. Crispin is saddened to hear the news, having had good encounters with Ed earlier in his career. Holly mostly remains quiet.

Crispin gets the feeling that the three of them aren’t alone, and Holly senses it too. She speaks about the history of the dead who inhabit the land. Then, she appears to be possessed by them, speaking of their fate in the first person. Aoife quickly comes to her mother’s aid, helping her to recover from her seizure. When Holly comes to, Crispin helps get her to medical attention. He then joins them on the ride back to his hotel, courtesy of Holly’s publisher, Carmen.

Crispin is at a book fair in Shanghai, where Nick Greek is adored as a celebrity. Crispin doesn’t mind, however—he and Carmen are in a relationship with plans to live in London and Madrid together. Crispin does an interview at the festival, and, when prompted, discusses a recent visit to Colombia to see Richard in prison.

Crispin gets on the phone with Carmen, who is reconsidering his offer to move in together. Crispin acknowledges her decision. While waiting for Holly to arrive in Shanghai, he gets to work on his latest novel, a piece of historical fiction he is struggling to complete. Holly finds him at the bar. She shares that Aoife has fallen in love with a geneticist named Örvar.

Crispin tells Holly about his novel, hinting that he needs her psychic abilities to gain more insight into the presences she’d heard at the Perth lighthouse. Holly explains that it’s not something she can control, but something that comes to her instantaneously and in proximity. Her travels have allowed her to avoid premonitions about her loved ones. When Crispin theorizes that the phenomenon may be neurological, Holly flips a coin several times to demonstrate her ability. She then has a premonition of Crispin kneeling but doesn’t say what it means.

Later, Holly tells Crispin that she had a premonition involving him during their first encounter in 2015: “A spider, a spiral, a one-eyed man” (355). She is unable to explain the nature of her vision, but it has never changed in all the times she’s seen him since then. She flipped the coin to prove that her ability was real, so that Crispin would heed her warning. Crispin is frustrated with the vision’s lack of clarity and insinuates that she wrote her book to exploit her readers. Holly storms away and Crispin goes back to his room, filled with regret.

Crispin finds a book entitled Your Last Chance by Soleil Moore hanging from the doorknob, but can’t remember who Soleil is.

Crispin is traveling through Iceland to another literary festival. He and Carmen have broken up. Richard, meanwhile, remains in prison. Crispin panics when he notices that a photo of him and his two daughters is missing from his wallet. He gets a call from one of Richard’s friends, who tells him that Richard has been allowed to return home to the United Kingdom by the end of the week. After hanging up, Crispin admits to the wind that he is “a perjurer… and a coward” (360).

Crispin goes whale-watching, hoping that his daughters might call. He instead gets a call from his agent, who informs him that his publishers are demanding a repayment of his advance. Crispin claims not to have the money, so his agent suggests trying to sell his new manuscript immediately. Crispin explains that the novel has changed from being about his experience in Perth to being the fantastical story of a businessman in Shanghai. Crispin’s agent is disappointed to hear that he’s barely made any progress toward its completion.

Crispin loses himself in a forest, where he feels lukewarm about the pitch he made to his agent the day before. He remembers his catastrophic tenth birthday party, which resulted in several friends being brought to the hospital. After an explosive fight with Crispin’s filmmaker father, Crispin’s mother had left their family, blaming his father’s many betrayals for her departure. This traumatized Crispin and profoundly influenced his adult life.

Crispin imagines the aftermath of his death in the forest. He comes across a young man who seems to recognize him. The man introduces himself as Hugo Lamb and asks him about Holly Sykes. Mistaking Hugo for a tabloid journalist, Crispin dismisses him. Hugo uses his powers to restrain Crispin and presents the lost photo of Crispin and his children, threatening to harm them if Crispin doesn’t cooperate.

Crispin tells Hugo that Holly loves Aoife most of all, that he and Holly are merely friends, that Holly has never brought up anyone named Esther Little, and that she has never discussed her cognitive abilities. At Hugo’s interrogation, however, Crispin confesses the truth about her vision at Perth. Hugo asks if Crispin has heard about the Anchorites, Horology, Marinus, or the Star of Riga, but Crispin fails to recognize anything outside of what Holly has written about Marinus. Before leaving, Hugo reveals that he knows what Crispin did to Richard. Hugo shows him the way out of the forest but erases Crispin’s memory of their encounter.

Crispin visits Gljúfrasteinn, the museum home of Icelandic novelist and Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness. He considers what a museum dedicated to himself would look like, but soon realizes that his generation is passing into history.

Carmen reaches out to talk to Crispin, but he declines, still hurt over their breakup. Crispin delivers a lecture about writing and tradition, arguing that all writers work in reaction to the larger history of the literature that precedes them. He also speaks about Iceland as a fixation for many great people throughout history. Afterwards, Crispin has dinner with Holly, Aoife, and Örvar, who attended his lecture. Crispin signs a copy of his book for Örvar, suddenly relieved that he no longer feels the need to be witty to impress anyone.

Crispin tells Holly about his breakup with Carmen in Venice. She explains that she wrote The Radio People at Ed’s suggestion, finishing it after Ed died. Following the book’s publication, various people reached out claiming to be Jacko, but none of them were ever verified by the Sykes family. Holly then adds that she is working on a new collection of stories.

Crispin asks if Holly’s premonition about him is still the same, and she confirms that it is. Then he asks her if she is ill. She admits that she has gallbladder cancer with a low chance of survival. They hug and part ways. As Crispin leaves Holly’s house, he gets a text from Carmen informing him that she is pregnant.

Crispin is a guest lecturer of creative writing at Blithewood College in New York. He has managed to escape his financial obligations to his publishers and is paying alimony to Zoë and child support to Carmen. During a workshop on the last day of the semester, he gives his students feedback and writing assignments. Later, waiting in Crispin’s office is Richard Cheeseman, who has flown to New York to escape family for the holidays.

Richard recounts the story of his eye patch; Crispin tells Richard about his son, Gabriel Joseph, who lives in Madrid with Carmen. Finally, Richard confronts Crispin over framing him for drug trafficking and threatens him with a gun. Crispin offers Richard anything he wants, terrified that Richard will shoot him. Richard abruptly leaves without doing so, however.

Grateful to still be alive, Crispin calls Aoife, who explains that Holly isn’t doing well. Sharon comes on the call and explains that Holly’s new doctor, Dr. Iris Fenby, is trying a new drug. Crispin assures Sharon that he will visit Holly the following week and asks her to tell Holly that “she’s the best” (397).

After answering a few emails, Crispin is visited by a young androgynous Asian woman who introduces herself as Soleil Moore. Once Crispin realizes that Soleil isn’t a student at Blithewood, Soleil reminds Crispin of all their past encounters, stressing that her books were clues about the Anchorites, as well as about the roles Crispin and Holly Sykes play in the Script. Crispin has read none of her books, which makes Soleil upset. She reminds him of a story he’d written called “The Voorman Problem”; according to Soleil, the story details what the Anchorites are able to do. Realizing that Crispin won’t share her knowledge with the world, she shoots him.

As Crispin bleeds out, he realizes that Soleil’s name is an allusion to A Passage to India by English author E.M. Forster. Soleil believes that they are both martyrs in the Anchorites’ war, just as her sister was. Her ultimate purpose is to get humanity to rise up against the Anchorites. Looking around his room for the last time, Crispin registers the signs of Holly’s vision, understanding that all of them have come true.