The Survivors

“She dropped her skirt, the hem falling just clear of the water, and ran a hand distractedly over the back of her neck, lifting her sheet of blond hair away from her skin in a thick, messy handful.”

As Bronte walks near the water, the author echoes the Prologue as she makes similar movements to the unidentified woman. As the events in the Prologue appear to foretell a catastrophe, the author hints the mystery woman being pursued by the man in the Prologue may be Bronte.

“‘But it’s funny how often people’s free will turns out to coincide with exactly what you want, mate.’”

As the friends reconnect after several years apart, the conversation is tense and the air thick with the past they share. Sean makes small talk and suggests Ash forced Kieran and Mia to come out despite being exhausted. His comment is meant to be humorous, but it is laden with the suggestion Ash tricks people into thinking they are making a choice but instead are doing what he wants them to.

‘It’s weird. I kind of like them better for knowing that, though, […] How they nearly had this whole other life, standing around in a sunny park or something instead of stuck out there. It makes them seem more- […] I don’t know. Human or something.’”

In a flashback, Kieran and Olivia stand at the water’s edge analyzing the memorial statue. Kieran speaks about the statue having another life before it was moved near the wreck. One day Kieran will look back on his life and think about how he could have had a different life if he had only chosen differently on the day of the storm.

“Because whatever else might come the way of grown men, they didn’t wind up strangled to death in the surf.”

When Verity and Kieran step out to pick up dinner, Mia opts to stay at the house feeling safer not out on the streets after dark. Kieran notes he does not have the same fear. Females are at a far greater risk of being attacked walking alone or in the dark. The author points out the reality of the disproportionate number of female victims of violence.

“The garden had been beautiful for three whole weeks; then the storm had hit. Ash’s work was destroyed, with plantings ripped apart and uprooted bushes and trees leaving deep trenches of exposed soil.”

The historic storm ravaged Evelyn Bay in many ways. Ash carefully curated and tended his grandmother’s garden only to have it destroyed by the storm. The storm left an impact not only on the garden but also on the families touched by the tragedy. Lives were torn apart, families were shattered, and individuals were left with wounds from which they may never recover. Kieran attempts to replant his life and start over growing a new family, but Bronte’s murder reopens his wounds.

“The brittle face of her constant, unceasing, grinding strive for inner serenity.”

Though Kieran’s family does not collectively discuss their grief over the loss of Finn or Brian’s illness, Kieran has gone to therapy to deal with the grief and guilt. Verity has chosen to read books and attend support groups. Mother and son are both struggling but refuse to be emotionally vulnerable with each other resulting in a tense and guarded relationship.

“Out on the water, The Survivors were knee-deep. The caves were yawing black holes behind him.”

The memorial statue is a symbol of grief and remembrance for those lost in the shipwreck. It also becomes a symbol of Kieran’s grief as well as a reminder of his guilt. The author uses figurative language to describe the caves comparing them to open mouths ready to swallow anyone entering. The personification of the caves gives them an ominous and foreboding feeling. Kieran is aware of their danger but is still drawn to explore their depths.

“A few [people] had uploaded a tiny thumbnail profile photo, but most hadn’t bothered, lurking instead behind the default anonymous grey silhouette. Most had adopted a pseudonym but Kieran recognized some of the names.”

The author incorporates an online community forum for several purposes narratively and symbolically. The forum allows the novel’s reader to hear the community members voice their concerns and theories surrounding the death of Bronte. Symbolically the forum becomes the face of the community functioning almost like a character. Full of speculation, fearmongering, misinformation, and slander, the forum represents what happens when people, hiding anonymity, show their true colors in the face of a tragedy.

“‘The birds have been all riled up lately.’ Liam’s voice was still flat. ‘On and off. Something’s been scaring them.’”

After his panic attack on the dive to the wreck, Liam explains that he senses something is off near the caves. He explains the birds have been acting strangely and cites the day he ran into Kieran near there and noticed the birds’ odd behavior. Kieran had noticed it too. The pronouncement is eerie and foreboding as the caves represent the tragedy of the past but are also still a present source of danger.

“Kieran followed her gaze and for a moment, less than that even, Kieran again had the uneasy sensation of something waiting in the dark, holding its breath. He realized his own lungs were tight and he exhaled.”

Each time Kieran returns to the caves, the tone shifts, and he experiences a sense of unease and dread. It could be that it is only his guilty conscience haunting him in the place where things fell apart. However, the sensations he experiences could be related to a supernatural presence in the caves or something sinister. The author uses sensory imagery to make the caves come alive adding an eerie and malevolent feeling to the seaside grotto.

“Sometimes sharing the story was almost a release of tension, but other times, like now, he felt nothing but shame. Either way, reliving it always left him feeling drained.”

Kieran has been through therapy to get to where he is now, and part of that process was sharing his story. Though being vulnerable and honest had its place in Kieran’s healing, it does not help in lessening the guilt he has over causing the death of Finn and Toby. Pendlebury gives him the dignity of sharing the truth without interrupting him, and when he finishes, she acknowledges his pain before changing everything by revealing new information about the day of the storm.

“‘The storm has done its damage. There’s nothing to be gained from letting that wound fester. I really believed that. I still do.’”

Sergeant Renn, in his explanation of the botched investigation, reveals an attitude taken by many involved in the situation that is more hurtful than helpful. By accepting what they thought was the truth, even if it means ignoring the unanswered questions, people thought the pain would recede and the wounds would heal.

“How would Kieran measure up against the nightmare of his own child lost?”

At every turn, Kieran has reevaluated his past through the lens of adulthood. Becoming a father has changed his outlook on life and the past. It has made him more empathetic to Liam, Trish, and his parents.

“Places like this, they need to be tight-knit to work. Once the trust is broken, they’re stuffed. Whether people see it or not, the writing’s on the wall.”

George makes an observation about Evelyn Bay. The writer came to the small town seeking refuge from his problems and to find a quiet place to write his next book. As an outsider, and now that the residents are turning on each other, he no longer feels safe in the community.

“Kieran blinked and began to walk, the elusive thought creeping alongside him, always just out of reach. He chases it, without success, the whole way back.”

The author uses figurative language to explain Kieran’s nagging thoughts about what happened on the boat on the day of the storm. The author personifies the thought as a being walking next to Kieran, stalking him, demanding he pays attention to it. He struggles to put the pieces together because his memory is clouded with pain, regret, and trauma.

“Could this be enough? Kieran wondered. If this was all that was possible? If Brian didn’t remember what he thought Kieran had done, didn’t remember what he those black days when lost Finn? If what had happened was gone forever, was that the same as forgiveness?”

In a tender moment with his father, Kieran watches as Brian holds Audrey but appears lost to reality. Ironically, Kieran realizes his father’s dementia has blessedly erased the painful memories of Finn’s loss. Desperate to be rid of his guilt, Kieran wonders if this moment can substitute for forgiveness and restitution in their relationship.

“The sea had washed clean any sign she had ever been there.”

On Kieran’s final trip to the caves to confirm his intuition, he glances at the place where Bronte’s body was found. Members of the community turned it into a shrine leaving flowers as a memorial, but over time the water washed the flowers out to sea. In this passage, the author personifies the sea giving it human-like character traits as it washes away the evidence of the horrific tragedy.

“The writing’s on the wall.”

George’s use of an idiom meaning the future is certain echoes in Kieran’s mind. This turn of phrase originates from the Biblical story of a mysterious disembodied hand that appeared in the Babylonian king’s palace declaring his coming demise. Kieran realizes the truth of Gabby and Bronte’s death is literally on the wall in the caves. When the teenagers scratched their names into the rock, they did not know the lasting impact it would have beyond preserving their names in the stone. 

“But he had already spent too long mentally navigating the dark of those caves, wandering exhausted over the same old ground. Battling to change something that couldn’t be changed, instead of trying to find his way out to the light.”

Navigating the caves is dangerous. The rise of the tide coupled with the sensory disorientation makes exploration treacherous and potentially deadly. Kieran’s tunneling through the caves symbolizes his mental journey over the last 12 years. He keeps traveling into the same dark corridors of his mind with no hope of finding relief or absolution. Just like the rising tide threatens to drown him, so does his rising guilt and shame threaten to overwhelm and drag him under.

“Sean had turned his head and was now staring at the sea, past The Survivors and out to where his beloved wreck lay invisible under the waves.”

As Kieran lays out the evidence for Sean’s culpability in the death of both Gabby and Bronte, he stands silent in the face of the truth. The shipwreck, a place where he found solace and refuge, now symbolizes the wreck of his life. The fear of exposure and embarrassment led him to end the lives of two girls and his fateful decisions will sink him in the end.

“‘It wasn’t how you think.’”

Sean’s declaration rings out as a truth that permeates the narrative. Kieran has spent much of the last 12 years thinking a certain way about the day of the storm. Considering the truth, he realizes what he had thought happened was not what happened. On a larger scale, people adhere to thoughts and preconceived perceptions of individuals in the town and, once the truth is revealed, are forced to reconsider what they previously thought.

“She could-almost-have been one of The Survivors. Standing there, outlined by the weak light, her back turned and the salt water lapping at her feet.”

As Gabby stands in the cave, the author creates a poignant visual as she momentarily appears to be a part of the sculpture. The scene is symbolic as metaphorically Gabby could have been a survivor of that fateful day if Sean had helped her out of the caves.

“If you’re going to do it-.”

The narrative becomes circular as the author brings the reader back to the Prologue. The reader assumes the unnamed girl in the Prologue is Bronte, but it is Gabby. The reader also assumes these haunting words refer to the murderer steeling their resolve to murder the girl; however, it is just a teenage boy summoning his courage to kiss a girl. Ironically, the sinister image painted in the Prologue turns out to be an innocent moment of teenage impulsivity. Yet, when Gabby rebuffs his advance, the tone shifts in a disquieting way.