Gone Girl

Plot summary

Part 1

The narrative alternates between the point of view of Nick and Amy Dunne (née Elliott). Nick's narration begins shortly after arriving home on his fifth wedding anniversary to find Amy is missing from their home; there are signs of a struggle. Amy's narration comes in the form of her diaries and follows the earlier stages of their relationship.

The diary entries describe how Amy met Nick in New York City, where they both worked as writers. Nick was a journalist who wrote movie and TV reviews, while Amy wrote personality quizzes for women's magazines. After two years of dating, they married. The couple lived in a beautiful brownstone home in Brooklyn where they were happy.

In 2009, both Nick and Amy lost their jobs following the Great Recession. Amy's parents Rand and Marybeth, meanwhile, had written a successful children's book series called "Amazing Amy," based on Amy's life experiences. However, when sales from the books declined and Rand and Marybeth didn't curb their spending, they also started facing financial issues. Their solution was to ask Amy for money from her trust fund, which made Nick unhappy.

Eventually, Amy and Nick relocate to Nick's hometown of North Carthage, Missouri, to care for Nick's sick mother, Maureen. With permission, Nick uses what remained of Amy's trust fund to open a bar with his twin sister, Margo or "Go". Nick also finds work teaching journalism at a local college. Their marriage deteriorates; Amy describes how she hates being a housewife in the suburbs and resents Nick for making her move. Her diary comes to portray Nick as an aggressive, moody, idle, and threatening husband, and indicates that she fears for her life.

In Nick's narrative, he views Amy as a needlessly difficult, antisocial, controlling perfectionist, and an unwelcome obligation, but he is concerned about her disappearance. Nick becomes a suspect in the investigation, led by Detectives Rhonda Boney and Jim Gilpin, and Nick downplays their relationship issues. During the investigation, Nick faces intense media scrutiny, exacerbated by his lack of obvious emotion and apparent flippant attitude. It is also revealed by Amy's supposed best friend from the neighborhood, Noelle Hawthorne, that Amy was pregnant, which Nick was unaware of. Nick has serious credit card debt, which he claims to have been unaware of, and Amy's life insurance was recently increased by Nick, which he claims was her idea. It becomes apparent to Nick that his wife had hidden secrets from him.

Part 2

It is revealed that Nick and Amy are unreliable narrators. Nick has admitted that he is cheating on his wife with Andie, his former college student, and intended to divorce Amy; he hid this from investigators to avoid suspicion. Amy's narration shifts to the present day, revealing that she is alive and staged her own disappearance to go into hiding. After discovering Nick's affair, she became angry at his disregard for her and planned extensively for a year to fake her death and frame Nick as revenge for wasting her life. Her pregnancy, years of diary entries, and other evidence were fabricated in order to incriminate Nick.

Nick becomes aware of Amy's plan based on vague clues that she has left under the guise of their traditional anniversary treasure hunt. He is led to Go's woodshed where he discovers exorbitant purchases that Amy made with credit cards in his name to further incriminate him. The shed also contains Amy's anniversary gift of Punch and Judy puppets (one missing a handle), indicating that she expects Nick to receive the death penalty for her murder.

Amy's plan to monitor the investigation through the news media is foiled when she is robbed at the motel where she has holed up. Desperate, she seeks help from her wealthy ex-boyfriend, Desi Collings, with whom she had had a manipulative relationship in her youth. Desi, still enamored, hides her in his lake house but becomes possessive and controlling, making Amy feel trapped.

Nick and his new lawyer, Tanner Bolt, work to change public perception of Nick through an interview with a popular talk show host, during which Nick pretends to be apologetic about his infidelity and failings as a husband. He is well-received, but the police have discovered the woodshed, which also contains violent porn videos. Amy's faked diary chronicling abuse from Nick is also found in his father's old house. The police find the missing handle from the puppets, bearing Amy's blood. Nick is arrested.

At Desi's house, Amy sees the TV interview and is impressed by Nick's performance of a perfect husband, and is convinced that the two of them uniquely understand and are matched to each other. She mutilates her own body so that it appears Desi has been holding her captive, then seduces him and murders him.

Part 3

Amy returns to North Carthage, where Nick is recently out on bond. She fabricates a story for investigators that she was kidnapped from home and imprisoned by Desi before killing him to escape; her diary entries were melodramatic and she is glad to be back with Nick. Nick, Detective Boney, and Go know she is lying but have no proof. Nick is forced to return to married life with Amy as the media storm dies down.

Amy begins writing her memoir of the fabricated events, and Nick privately begins writing an exposé of Amy's deceptions. Amy uses Nick's semen, which they had saved at a fertility clinic, to inseminate herself, and forces him to delete his book by threatening to keep him from their unborn child. Nick complies, dedicating himself to the role of a perfect husband. One day, Nick momentarily drops the act and reveals the pity he feels for Amy, deeply unsettling her.[1]


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