Tunnel of Bones

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and child death.

“The past is a very determined ghost, haunting every chance it gets.”

The novel’s epigraph, attributed to romance novel and poetry author Laura Miller, establishes the importance of History’s Enduring Presence in Places and People in Tunnel of Bones. In other contexts, this phrase’s meaning is figurative, a metaphorical comparison of the past’s hold on human lives and emotions to a haunting ghost. In Cassidy Blake’s world, it also has literal meaning. History is entwined with lore and unexplained phenomena, making it key to understanding paranormal activity.

“Dad laughs. ‘That’s because the museum is beneath it,’ he says. ‘And around it. The pyramid is only the entrance.’ ‘A reminder,’ says Mom, ‘that there’s always more than meets the eye.’”

Mr. and Mrs. Blake’s comments about the Louvre reflect their characters’ roles in providing context about the sites and ghosts of Paris. Mr. Blake is full of information related to history and culture, while Mrs. Blake is most interested in what remains unseen. Her statement is ironic, given that their daughter has paranormal gifts they don’t know about. Cassidy is also more than meets the eye, and her experiences in the Veil are teaching her to look beyond the surface at the world around her.

“(I don’t like lying to my parents, but I tried telling them the truth, after the whole incident in the graveyard, and they didn’t believe me. So maybe that makes this lie a little smaller.) ‘Yeah,’ says Jacob, ‘keep telling yourself that.’”

One of the conflicts that Cassidy must navigate is between belief and skepticism in those around her. Since she’s only 12, adults tend to treat her assertions as products of her imagination.