Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas is a 2004 novel by British author David Mitchell. The sprawling narrative is composed of a series of nested stories, spanning centuries into the past and the future. In addition to winning numerous literary and science fiction awards, the novel was adapted into a 2012 film of the same name. This guide uses the 2014 Sceptre edition of Cloud Atlas.

Content Warning: The novel and this guide depict slavery and discuss racism, death by suicide, and sexual abuse.

Plot Summary

Cloud Atlas is composed of six connected stories, assembled in a nested structure, in which the protagonists of the respective stories react to the events of the previous chapter. After the midpoint, the stories unwind in reverse chronological order until the final chapter finishes the first story. The chapters reflect this structure in that all the chapter names repeat in reverse order except for the chapter at the novel’s midpoint. The author uses various literary styles that reflect the time period of each nested story.

In the opening story, “The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing,” an American lawyer named Adam Ewing travels aboard a ship to the Chatham Islands. There, he sees an enslaved Morori man named Autua being whipped. He pities Autua. While hiking, Ewing falls into a crater and, after seeing signs of previous human presence, escapes with several wounds. Onboard the ship, Ewing learns that he has a fatal infection, and Dr. Goose begins treatment. Autua has stowed away in Ewing’s cabin and—at Ewing’s insistence—the captain agrees to hire Autua to work on the ship.

“Letters from Zedelghem” takes place in Belgium in the early 1930s. Robert Frobisher is a young, bisexual English musician who writes letters to Rufus Sixsmith, his friend and lover. He describes his attempts to be hired by legendary composer Vyvyan Ayrs. Ayrs is dying of syphilis, and Frobisher offers to transcribe the compositions of the dying composer. A collaborative piece by the two men is well-received. Frobisher begins an affair with Ayrs’s wife and writes his own music. While stealing old books from Ayrs’s library, Frobisher finds half of Adam Ewing’s journal. He writes to Sixsmith, asking him to track down the second half of the journal. Because the disagreeable Ayrs feels inspired again, Frobisher agrees to stay in his position until the following summer.

“Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery” is a detective story set in California in 1975. Luisa Rey, a young female journalist, meets an elderly man named Rufus Sixsmith. They become trapped together in an elevator, and he tells her about his fears regarding the safety of the local nuclear power plant. Afterward, he’s found dead. Luisa doesn’t believe that he died by suicide. She finds his letters and a report, written by Sixsmith. She’s attacked by an assassin hired by the company.

In “The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish,” a retired British publisher tries to escape the henchmen of a criminal client whose book revealed too much information. Cavendish’s brother hides; Cavendish initially believes that he’s in a hotel but then realizes that he’s trapped in a retirement home. Cavendish has read the manuscript of Luisa Rey’s mystery novels but isn’t impressed. While plotting an escape from the home, he has a stroke.

“An Orison of Sonmi~451” is set far in the future. In a dystopic, highly corporatized society in Korea, which enslaves clones as cheap laborers, a clone named Sonmi~451 is arrested and interrogated. Sonmi~451 describes learning about the reality of life for clones from a group of radicals and then watching a film based on the events of Timothy Cavendish’s life. A warrant is issued for her arrest.

The novel’s midpoint, “Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Evrythin’ After” is set in a postapocalyptic version of Hawaii. In fractured English, an old man named Zachry tells a story to children gathered around a fire. He tells stories about his past, his fears, and his religion. He tells a fable-like version of how the apocalypse occurred; some humans with technological capabilities seem to have survived, and they occasionally visit the island to study Zachry and his people. One of these people, named Meronym, begins living with Zachry. Although he struggles to trust Meronym, he convinces her to violate her people’s protocols and save his sister’s life by using advanced medicine. In exchange, he leads her on a hike to the top of a volcano, where she tells him Sonmi~451’s story. When they return, however, Zachry’s people are attacked by a rival group. Zachry escapes with Meronym. Later, his child tells other people about the wild stories they received from the seemingly incomprehensible data left by Sonmi~451.

As “An Orison of Sonmi~451” picks up again, the interrogator discusses Sonmi’s involvement in an anti-government rebellion. In her continuing story, Sonmi~451 discovers how clones are actually exterminated rather than allowed to retire. Their bodies are turned into food. The rebels want Sonmi~451 to write inspirational texts calling on people to rise up against the government. When Sonmi~451 is then arrested, she suspects that the entire ordeal may have been a government setup. Her final request is to view the end of the film about Cavendish’s life.

“The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish” continues. Cavendish recovers from his stroke and leads a small group of retirement home residents on a daring escape. While celebrating in a bar, they’re nearly recaptured but are saved by their fellow drinkers. Cavendish returns to his previous life, where he plans to publish the books about Luisa Rey’s investigation and create a film about his experiences.

As “Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery” picks up, Rey escapes the assassin, losing her job, and acquires a piece of music by Robert Frobisher, titled Cloud Atlas Sextet. Rey narrowly avoids another assassination attempt thanks to the intervention of her father’s friend. She exposes the corruption at the nuclear plant and receives a package from Sixsmith that contains the remaining letters between him and Frobisher.

“Letters from Zedelghem” continues with Frobisher developing Cloud Atlas Sextet, unbeknownst to Ayrs, while continuing his affair with Ayrs’s wife and falling in love with Ayrs’s daughter, Eva. Ayrs takes credit for Frobisher’s composition, threatening to extort him if Frobisher reveals the truth. He escapes to work on Cloud Atlas Sextet but is dismayed to learn that Eva doesn’t love him. His mental and physical health decline. After finishing his composition, he plans to die by suicide. He writes a final letter to Sixsmith, including his finished composition and Ewing’s journal.

“The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing” ends the novel. Ewing witnesses Christian missionaries oppressing Indigenous people on Raiatea. As his illness continues, he realizes that Dr. Goose—his supposed friend and healer—is actually poisoning him in order to steal his possessions. Autua saves Ewing’s life. Ewing plans to campaign for the abolition of slavery, in defiance of his father-in-law, and he reflects on the nature of humanity and power.