Want to talk about the ending of The Survivors by Jane Harper? Need a plot summary? Having trouble keeping all the characters straight? Looking for spoilers or the ending explained? Check out my Spoilers and Plot Summary of the Survivors and join the discussion in comments! Updated in 2025 in advance of the Netflix movie that airs June 6 2025. Will they change the ending?
Table of Contents for Spoilers and Plot Summary for The Survivors:
- Character List for The Survivors
- Plot summary of The Survivors with (marked) spoilers
- My questions about the book.
- Feel free to skip to the ENDING EXPLAINED section if that is all you’re looking for!
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I hope you will share your thoughts in the comments!
The Survivors: List of Characters
The Survivors takes place in a small town where everyone knows everyone and the characters have multiple connections of blood, friendship and romance. That got confusing for me, so I hope this character list for the Survivors is helpful to you! Feel free to skip ahead to the plot summary or spoiler discussion if you like!
- Kieran is thirty. He grew up in Evelyn Bay, Tasmania and has returned home to help his mom Verity move his father Brian, who has early onset dementia, into a care home.
- Finn was Kieran’s older brother. He died twelve years trying to rescue Kieran during a storm.
- Toby, who ran a diving business with Finn, also died in the rescue attempt.
- Liam, Toby’s son, was seven at the time of his father’s death.
- Sean, a friend of Kieran’s, was Toby’s brother and now runs the dive business.
Ash was a friend of Sean and Toby’s. He still lives in town and runs a landscaping business.
Olivia (Liv) was a friend and high school classmate of Sean, Ash, and Kieran. All three boys were interested in her in high school, but she and Kieran snuck away to the sea caves to be alone. That’s where they were twelve years ago when a big storm blew in, trapping them. No one knows Liv was in the caves with Kieran when the storm hit.
Mia is four years younger than Kieran, Olivia, Sean, and Ash. She also grew up in Evelyn Bay. She and Kieran got to know each other better at university in Sydney. She’s now Kieran’s partner and the mother of his child.
Bronte is an art student from Canberra. She is visiting Evelyn Bay for the summer and living with Olivia.
Gabby was Mia’s best childhood friend and Olivia’s younger sister. She also disappeared the day of the storm twelve years ago. She was never found and is presumed dead.
George was a journalist and now writes thrillers. He summered in Evelyn Bay and then bought a house there. Twelve years ago, he taught a writing class attended by Gabby and Mia.
Having Trouble Keeping the Survivors Characters Straight?
I was kind of confused until I grouped everyone by age and family:
The (now) 30 year olds:
They were 18 at the time of the storm: Kieran, Ash, Sean and Olivia.
The (then) 14 year old girls:
These girls were 14 at the time of the storm: Mia and Gabby (Gabby is now missing, presumed dead.) These two weren’t part of the older friend group. Mia is now 26.
The storm victims:
Finn, Toby, and Gabby (all died or went missing twelve years ago)
The Adults:
- Brian and Verity were the parents of Finn (age 26 at the time of the storm) and Kieran (age 18 at the time of the storm and 30 in the present)
- Toby (who died in the storm) was Liam’s father and Sean’s older brother. Liam was 7 during the storm and is 19 in the present.
- Trish is mom to Olivia (Liv) and Gabby, who are sisters.
Plot Summary for The Survivors With Marked Spoilers
The Present
Kieran has returned home for a short visit to Evelyn Bay, Tasmania, with his partner Mia and their baby. He came to help his mother move his father into a care home.
Evelyn Bay is the site of the shipwreck of the SS Mary Minerva. The town installed a memorial called the Survivors, a sculpture of three figures made of iron.
On the beach with Mia and the baby, Kieran runs into Ash, who is there with a young blond woman with a camera. Kieran makes plans to hang out at the Surf and Turf restaurant with Ash and their old friends Sean and Liv. The blond woman (Liv’s housemate Bronte) also joins them.
At the Surf and Turf they see Liam, Sean’s teenage nephew, who suggests that Kieran is guilty of murder. As Kieran and Mia walk home, a speeding car almost runs them down.
The morning after the party, Kieran wakes up and finds sand in the house. Mia has taken the baby for a walk and as he heads to meet her, he learns Bronte was just found drowned on the beach.
Sergeant Renn is investigating and seems focused on Liam, who had been seen with Bronte the night before after the restaurant closed.
The Past
Twelve years ago, Sean, Ash, Kieran were all interested in Liv. The three boys also loved exploring the local sea caves where they’d explore new routes. Liv and Kieran would sneak through sea caves to sit on a remote ledge and have romantic time alone.
One day, a powerful storm swept in and Liv and Kieran were afraid that the rising tide would trap their way out through the caves. Olivia managed to make a call for help. Kieran’s brother Finn and Liam’s father Toby (Sean’s brother) who had a diving business together, volunteered to came get them and both were killed when the boat overturned.
(In the show, we see Liv and Kieran perched on a rock in a sea cave and the tide is already quite far in. Then a storm makes the water both high and choppy, preventing them from swimming out of the cave to safety.)
Olivia and Kieran did manage to escape to safety. No one knew Olivia had been there with Kieran, and he has kept that secret.
The Present
DI Pendlebury, a police officer from Hobart, arrives to speak to Kieran. The police tell him that Bronte’s drowning does not look accidental.
They also say that Brian, Kieran’s dad, was wandering near the beach at midnight. The police seem to think that Brian might have seen something.
Brian claims he saw Mia on the beach last night, arguing with Bronte. Mia denies it and Kieran thinks he’s confusing Bronte with Gabby, who went missing twelve years ago. (I don’t think this happens in the show.)
On the day of that terrible storm years ago, Gabby and Mia argued at that same beach. Mia insisted on leaving, but Gabby didn’t want to.
Verity doesn’t mention to the police that Brian was actually the last person to see Gabby alive twelve years ago. He’d seen Gabby at the beach after Mia left and warned her about the storm.
Kieran gets a call that Brian has wandered off and is wading in the sea near when Bronte was found.
Kieran runs into Olivia, who tells Kieran that Ash knows about their past, and then Liam, who says that the night before, he and Bronte drove to her place. She lent him one of George’s thrillers, and then he left. Kieran is skeptical, but Liam says he was the one who sped past Kieran and Mia and nearly hit them.
The police seem disappointed that Mia and Kieran got no details about the car that sped past them.
Liv, Mia, Kieran, and Sgt. Renn walk back to Liv’s cottage to let her pick up some belongings. Kieran mentions to Renn that Bronte thought she’d heard noises outside at night, and had borrowed Sean’s flashlight, which is still in her room.
Kieran also notes that Bronte had a signed book from George, and an unplugged black cable on her desk. He remembers that Bronte had a camera the first time he’d met her.
Mia tells Kieran what she and Gabby had really been arguing about before she disappeared: Gabby knew Mia had a crush on Kieran, so Gabby spitefully told Mia that Kieran had a secret romance with her sister Liv.
Sean invites Kieran, Mia and Verity for a dive. Brian wanders in and thinks that Kieran’s baby is Finn’s, suggesting that Finn got a girl pregnant before he died. (This is not in the Netflix show).
Sean takes Kieran, Verity, Liam, and George diving at the shipwreck. Something spooks Liam underwater. He seems agitated and mentions to the group that Kieran has been at the caves. (In the show, Kieran inthe one how has a panic attack.)
At a community meeting, George tells Kieran that an online community forum is discussing the case. Kieran looks and finds comments mentioning that his dad was with both Bronte and Gabby before their deaths. There’s also a link to an online tribute page to Bronte.
The police announce that Bronte’s laptop and camera are missing. Bronte’s mom tells the crowd she will find out who is responsible. On the way out, George tries to tell Kieran something, but is interrupted.
The Big Clue
Kieran checks the online forum and realizes someone deleted the link to Bronte’s memorial page. He goes back in his browser history and finds the site, which includes photos of Evelyn’s Bay. One of them is of him, Ash and Mia on the day they met Bronte.
The next day, Mia and Kieran decide to visit the sites of the photos on the memorial site. On the beach, they meet DI Pendlebury, who is doing the same thing.
They all head to the caves together. Pendlebury shows them more of Bronte’s photos, including some of the caves. They are photos of names scratched into the rocks: Kieran, Ash, Sean, Finn, and Toby.
Kieran takes Pendlebury into the caves and tells her they’d carve their names whenever they mapped a new route. She asks if Mia and Gabby were ever down there and he says no, not to his knowledge.
Pendlebury tells them that George is researching the storm for a book and that the timing of the rescue story doesn’t work. Toby and Finn were already out in their boat, in the middle of a storm, when Olivia’s distress call came in.
Kieran confronts Renn, who drops another bombshell: Gabby’s backpack was found, completely dry, on Toby and Finn’s boat, but the officer in charge lied about it.
The Survivors Ending Explained: who killed Gabby and Bronte?
Kieran has a sudden realization about something he saw in Bronte’s photos. He goes to the caves and finds Sean, who is trying to scratch away a message etched in the rocks, one that Gabby made before she died.
Sean confesses. Twelve years ago, he was waiting for Finn and Toby on their boat when Gabby showed up. She told Sean that Kieran and Olivia were spending time alone in the caves. Sean put Gabby’s backpack in the boat and left Finn and Toby a note that he was headed to the caves. Then he took Gabby there.
In the caves, Sean made a pass at Gabby, who cried and asked him to take her home. He was embarrassed that his friends would find out and rushed out of the caves, thinking Gabby was following him.
But Gaby never made it out alive. In the meantime, Toby and Finn found Sean’s note and headed in their boat to rescue him.
Sean killed Bronte after he saw her photos.
Why did he do this? To cover up the fact that he left Gaby in the cave. (At this point, most of us in comments think he should just come clean rather than kill poor Bronte, but he made the wrong choice!)
Sean had gone to Bronte’s house to get back the flashlight she borrowed from him. She showed Sean the photos she took and he saw one of his own name, carved into the cave by Gabby.
So Sean killed Bronte and stole her camera and laptop so no one would see the photos she took of the caves, the ones that showed the carvings made by Gabby before she died.
BUT Sean didn’t know that Bronte had uploaded the photos to a shared site shared by other university students, who used the photos in her memorial page online. So the photos came out anyway, and Kieran saw the carving Gabby made of Sean’s name and figured out that he had been in the caves with Gabby all those years ago.
Back in the present: as Kierran confronts, Sean, the tide is coming in. Kieran begs Sean to come out of the cave with him, but Sean won’t. Kieran calls for help but saves himself.
Spoilers and Spoiler Discussion for The Survivors
What I liked was all the red herrings! I had so many theories because there was so much misdirection.
Suspects:
Brian or Finn, each of whom I thought might have had a thing with Gabby. When Renn admitted that Gabby’s backpack was found in the boat, I was convinced that Finn got her pregnant. But Finn couldn’t have killed Bronte. So maybe Verity could have killed both of them, to protect her husband’s secret. There was that mysterious sand in the house and the slammed door, but I guess that was explained by Brian’s wandering.
George, who seemed like way too much of a busybody.
Ash, because of his weird obsession with George’s landscaping. But then George made a joke about Ash burying a body.
I couldn’t think of much of a motive for Mia. And Olivia was with Kieran during the storm, so it couldn’t have been them.
I did not suspect Sean at all!
His motive for abandoning Gabby in the cave seemed somewhat plausible. However, if her death was an accident, I’m not sure why he didn’t say something. That was a bit of an issue for me.
What did you think of the ending of The Survivors?
Though really sad, the ending fit in with the theme of risking your life (or not) to save someone else. Olivia helped save Kieran. Toby and Finn tried to save Sean. Brian wanted to help Gabby.
Another strong theme was that of survivors and survivors’ guilt. Kieran felt guilty about Toby and Finn. Sean felt guilty about Gabby. But in the end, Kieran chose not to go after Sean and try to save him.
Join the Discussion!
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Thank you. Listening to this on audio book and having a hard time keeping characters straight. This helps a lot! 🙂
I completely get it – I struggle on audiobook when there are a lot of people to keep straight, or unfamiliar names and words. I don’t retain information well unless I see it printed. Come back and chat when you’re finished!
Hi Jen,
I finished it! Since you asked, I decided to come back and chat. 🙂
I’ll start by say the only other thing I read (okay, listened to) by Jane Harper is “The Lost Man”, which I really enjoyed. The narrator was also really, really good and, I thought added another fun layer to the story. I’ve spent limited time in Australia but the descriptions in that book really brought it home for me.
Okay back to “The Survivor”, like you I loved the red herrings. I genuinely thought the body was going to be dug up in the writer’s garden and there was going to be some multi-character story/cover-up as to how it got there. I was a little disappointed with the actual reveal. I thought it was a bold choice to make the peer pressure between the boys such a central driver for the murder but I didn’t love the execution. I found it a stretch for the original cover-up. It seemed like an accident was a reasonable explanation, they were in the caves when the storm hit and he couldn’t get her out and drowned. The carved names as evidence strong enough for murder also seemed unplausible and not fully within the character. I could see a viable explanation that she was exploring the caves, had some sotra feelings for Sean and then carved them in the cave wall. I can’t remember exactly what was written in the caves, the book had a hard time holding my attention, but I don’t remember it being damning enough to kill over.
I liked theme/angle of what happens after a tragedy. I found it similar to “The Good Daughter” by Karin Slaughter. Most stories climax as the survival of a tragedy, I like the thought of that being just the beginning and seeing the effects it has on those afterwards. But I didn’t get into it the same way I did “The Lost Man”. I often had to rewind because my thought wandered and thought there was a lot of extra padding that didn’t need to be there. Another edit could have done it wonders. I also had a hard time picturing Tasmania specifically, maybe because I’ve never been there. It kinda read like any tourist New England like town to me. Nothing stood out as, “Wow! This is Tasmania.”
The narration was still brilliant. Stephen Shanahan is exactly how I imagine the character sounding while I read Aussie characters.
Thanks so much for coming back!
I agree – I was expecting a more dramatic ending. I read a lot of twisty thrillers and my mind always goes to the dramatic. This is my first Jane Harper but I feel like this was one of those “avoidable tragedy and people keep it a secret” books rather than sly killer trying to get away with things. And yes, I thought the murder in the present was a stretch. When I read books with endings like this I always just wonder why the person didn’t tell the truth. Morally, Sean did a stupid and callous thing, but he wasn’t really a murderer until he killed Bronte to keep her quiet.
I HAVE been to Tasmania (briefly) and I agree that this did portray small town atmosphere but I didn’t get anything unique.
I just finished the audio book and was disappointed with the ending. I was just raving about the book to my daughter yesterday before I had gotten to the end. I’m pretty particular with story telling (both movies and books) and appreciate realistic, deep characters and story lines that aren’t far fetched. I was really enjoying this story as the characters were realistic and deep and the story line was believable… until the end.
Sean was described as a good guy who took his nephew under his wing, ran a local business, and roomed with a long time best friend. At the end, all of a sudden he turned into a psychopath who was responsible for two deaths, one being premeditated murder. What a disappointment to this otherwise good story.
All of the other characters were believable and the book was very well written. It’s too bad it ended poorly. I’m thinking the book would have been better if it had been told from Kieran’s point of view and if Bronte hadn’t been killed. There could have been a new interest in finding Gabby with a big investigation or something. Either that or it might have been better if someone else had killed her.
Note: There are more than a few grammatical errors in this post. The author might want to check it over.
Hi Violet – I think these days the shock ending often trumps the logical one. I do not approve.
Sorry about the grammatical errors – I will take a look. I type plot summaries on the notes app on my phone and sometimes the autocorrect does weird things. And my grammar isn’t perfect 🙁
I really liked Harper’s first book, ‘The Dry.’ I will definitely go on and read ‘The Lost Man.’
I lived in Tasmania for a couple of years, and I think Harper caught the small town coastal feel nicely, especially with Surf and Turf. I liked all the red-herrings and like most people, was happily surprised Sean was the bad guy. I was genuinely worried it was it going to Brian!
My main issue was with Kieran. He seemed passive, letting things happen until the very end. This is in contrast to ‘The Dry’ in which the protagonist is actively trying to solve the murders.
That said, I’m looking forward to reading more of Harper’s work!
Hi Jason! I agree with you the red herrings – there were so many people to suspect.
That’s a great point about Kieran. I haven’t tried The Dry and I will do so. I’m a new Harper fan!
I agree with what people have said about it being a bit dramatic that Sean would kill over something that had originally been an accident. especially as leaving the body to be found on the shore would get him into even move trouble if/when he was caught than just owning up to it if it came uncovered. A question that has been troubling me though is with the timing of these deaths. If I’m reading this correctly they would have all been down at the caves at roughly the same time–Kieran and Olivia because they were got caught in the caves when the storm was coming in and Sean and Gabby because they came looking for them, didn’t find them, and also got caught in the cave when the water was rapidly rising. Shouldn’t they have heard/seem something of each other?
Hi Marie! Thanks so much for stopping in and joining the discussion. I definitely agree on the Sean point. I think it’s human nature to try to cover up wrongdoing, but years later Sean could have decided to come clean, rather than start murdering people and making things far worse.
Interesting question on the caves and I hope others weigh in. I have zero knowledge of sea caves but have been on tours of underground land caves and I picture the sea caves as having multiple underground areas that are interconnected. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong!) On tours I have not heard other tour groups unless they were close to us. So I do think it’s possible that Kieran/Olivia and Sean/Gabby could have been down there at the same time and not been aware of each other. Also, as the caves are right near the ocean you’d have that noise of the surf possibly blocking the voices out.
If you remember, Kieran and Olivia was in the “south cave”, whilst Sean and Gabby was in the “north cave”.
Even if those two entrances were connected inside the cliffrock, it’s friggin hard to know where sound is coming from inside caves, the tunnels could already be under water, and as far as I remember, Kieran and Olivia fell asleep after copulation.
Sean obviously was able to see the start of the path even though the beach was somewhat under water, he could also still see the tops of the statues when he ran. Kieran and Olivia had problems seeing the path when they got out of their cave. The water was also higher, and they couldn’t see the statues at all.
So while they were in the caves at the same time-ish, Kieran and Olivia was probably still asleep before Sean and Gabby went into the other cave, and they got out at different times. Maybe no more than a couple of minutes even, but Sean was already running like a bat out of hell to get back to the harbour.
Thanks, Minya – that is very helpful 🙂
Hi Jen. I didn’t understand the point about the pictures of Toby and Finn on the boat. It seemed that reflecting on three pictures taken within a few seconds of each other seemed to give Keiran suspicion it was Sean? I don’t understand how that connection was made. Could you help?
Hi Jackie,
I read the book a while ago, but I took a look and you’re right: I don’t think the book explains what Kieran sees in that photo of Toby and Finn that gives him the huge lightbulb moment. At first I thought it had to do with Gabby’s backpack OR the note that Sean left Toby, and wondered if one of the photos either showed the note OR the backpack, linking Sean to her death. But I don’t think that photo was taken on the day of the storm. All I can come up with is that the slight differences in the photo of Toby and Finn made him realize that there was also slight difference in Bronte’s photo, the one that showed the message scratched on the rock, the photo that led Sean to kill her.
But if anyone else has a theory, please put it out there!
Maybe you are right. I can’t work it out either, unless its more the realization about looking at things from a different perspective that could make a difference? That a few seconds matter? It was bugging me the first time I read the book and again now, just after having finished it a second time.
I listened to the book, then parts of it again as I was confused about the plot. Still not clear. Thank you for saving me ! I like Jane’s writing, as a former Islander in Bass Strait, I related to a small community it’s in a beach setting, with a cave that flooded at high tide. I really felt the atmosphere. The story had depth and emotion and I was totally in the place.
Reason for going back several times was the confusion about the timeline and characters. Thank you for your brilliant summary. It would make a brilliantly bookclub book.
I think there was a photo of Sean’s name scratched into the cave wall, by Gabby, in Bronte’s camera. And that writing was slightly different to the scratching that Sean did way back when, and Sean only scratched his name once, as far as Kieran could recall. It was the slight difference in the T&F photo that made Kieran recall the diff in the scratchings.
Agree, though the fact that he remembered the scratching so well after all that time is a bit hard to believe.
Hi. Just finished the audio book and enjoyed it. My question is is there any significance of brother already being out in the storm prior to rescueing Kieren? Does it suggest a flaw in the hero worshipped Finn and Toby a recklessness in face of impending storm. Why were they out there. They must have sailed after Sean left with Gabby.
That’s a very good point; they were experienced boatmen/sailors so it doesn’t make a lot of sense except as a plot device so they could be out there to rescue Kieran.
They went out to “rescue” Sean after they saw his note. So they were already out there when the call from Olivia came in. Still pretty risky, but hey, they were in a cat and they never roll…….??
That makes sense. Thanks!
He may have seen both carvings on the camera photos, or at least he would have seen the original one when he was checking out the caves in this recent visit, then saw the new one of Bronte’s photo.
Ah, thanks. That makes much more sense!
I had a bit of a hard time with the ending. I do not necessarily think that an 18 yo running away panicked from a situation that resulted in an accidental death and a 30 yo tackling a young woman and holding her face in the ocean until she drowned are compatible with the same personality. There was no reason for the now mature, responsible Sean to not have admitted a long time ago to what happened to Gabby. It was an accident, he didn’t mean to kill her. He didn’t need to mention the kiss, only that they were looking for Kieran and Olivia and she fell behind and he couldn’t go back for her. Killing Bronte was unnecessary. His withholding Gabby’s fate, particularly from Trish and Olivia was cruel and unnecessary. I just found it so unbelievable.
I liked the characters, the descriptions of the setting, and the friendship between the groups. But Sean just acted so uncharacteristically, it just took me right out of the story. One thing I really liked was the art piece of The Survivors and how the characters frequently noted how high the water was on the statue. I thought that might have been used to better effect to predict episodes of danger in the story, but I did find it interesting.
I completely agree with you, Laura. I think Sean made a terrible decision when he was young, one that he should feel a lot of guilt and remorse for, but in the end just a tragic accident. He then compounds that by hiding the truth, and then a cold-blooded murder.
I did like the rest and want to read her other book, The Dry. It’s also a movie which I tried to get my husband to watch, unsuccessfully.
Loved the book until the end – what I didn’t understand was why Sean killed bronte?? was it because she found out about Gabby in the caves or was it a different reason?
Yes – maybe I should explain in more detail in my post.
Sean killed Bronte and stole her camera and laptop so no one would see the photos she took of the caves, the ones that showed the carvings made by Gabby before she died. But Sean didn’t know that Bronte had uploaded the photos to a shared site shared by other university students, who used the photos in her memorial page online. So the photos came out anyway, and Kieran figured it out!