The Virgin Suicides Summary

As the lifeless body of Mary Lisbon is carried away, marking the last of the Lisbon suicides, a band of local boys reminisce about the preceding year. The youngest Lisbon sibling, thirteen-year-old Cecilia, attempts suicide by slashing her own wrists but is saved. Hoping to provide her more social exposure, her parents host a party where she is largely detached from her sisters and the boys who attend. To the horror of everyone, she later plunges from her room's window onto a fence, this time successfully ending her life. The community attempts to grapple with this tragedy, their fascination with the remaining Lisbon sisters grows. The boys find Cecilia's diary, an ordinary recollection of her life, and obsess over its contents, but it provides no clear reason for her drastic choice.

The Lisbons withdraw further from their community. As the summer ends, the remaining Lisbon girls return to school, keeping to themselves. Mr. Lisbon, a high school teacher, buries himself in work. Lux Lisbon, the most beautiful sister, maintains a few secret affairs despite her parents' strict prohibition on dating. Trip Fontaine, the local heartthrob, falls helplessly in love with Lux and manages to secure permission to take her to Homecoming, provided he finds dates for her sisters and they all return by 11 P.M. That night, Lux and Trip go missing after the dance and Lux returns home after midnight, leading to her parents pulling all the girls from school and confining them to their home.

The Lisbon house deteriorates further, mirroring the family's decline. Lux starts bringing unknown men to the rooftop at night. When Lux is rushed to the hospital, the neighborhood fears it's another suicide attempt. Instead, she fakes a burst appendix for the chance to take a pregnancy test. No one leaves the Lisbon house for several months, and it's in April that the girls leave the house to protect their diseased elm tree from being cut down. The girls reach out to the boys with notes, and they communicate with each other through songs over the phone. Then, one day, the girls ask the boys to arrive at their house on June 15th at midnight. The boys find Lux smoking alone and she tells them to wait while she goes to the car. The boys search the house when they grow suspicious and find Bonnie's body. They run from the house in horror, realizing that all the girls had committed suicide while they waited in the living room. The devastated community forces the Lisbons to move, leaving the neighborhood with the haunting memories of the girls' deaths. The once young boys are now grown men who still struggle to comprehend the selfish acts of the Lisbon sisters.