The prologue is narrated by a man telling of his visit by a psychic woman, who gives him a manuscript she claims was dictated to her by his deceased brother Chris. Most of the novel consists of this manuscript.

Chris, a middle-aged man, is injured in a car accident and dies in the hospital. He remains as a ghost, at first thinking he's having a bad [url=/topic/dream-4]dream[/url]. Amid a failed séance that helps further convince his wife Ann that he didn't survive death, an unidentified man keeps approaching Chris and telling him to concentrate on what's beyond. But Chris disregards this advice for a long time, unable to leave his wife. After finally following the man's advice, focusing his mind on pleasant memories, he feels himself being elevated.

He wakes up in a beautiful [url=/topic/glade-geography]glade[/url] which he recognizes as a place where he and Ann used to travel. Understanding by now that he is dead, he is surprised that he looks and feels alive, with apparently a complete physical body and sensation. After exploring the place for a while, he finds Albert, his cousin, who reveals himself as the unidentified man.

Albert explains that the place they occupy is called [url=/topic/the-summerland]Summerland[/url]. Being a state of mind rather than a physical location, Summerland is practically endless and takes the form of the inhabitants' wishes and desires. There is no pain or death, but people still maintain occupations of sorts and perform leisure activities. The book spends several chapters depicting Summerland in great detail, through Chris's eyes. Chris feels somehow uneasy, being haunted by nightmares ending in Ann's death. Soon he learns that Ann has killed herself.

Albert, who is as shocked as Chris, explains that by committing suicide, Ann has placed her spirit in the "lower realm" from Summerland, and that she will stay there for twenty-four years — her intended life span. Albert insists that Ann's condition is not "punishment" but "law" - a natural consequence of committing suicide.

Albert's job is to visit the lower realm, and Chris asks to be taken there so he can help Ann. Albert initially refuses, warning Chris that he might inadvertently find himself stuck in the lower realm, thus delaying his eventual, inevitable reunion with Ann. Chris eventually convinces Albert to attempt the rescue, even though Albert insists that they will almost certainly fail.

The lower realm (which the book only later refers to as "Hell") is cold, dark, and barren. Albert and Chris are able to use their minds to make their surroundings slightly more bearable, but Albert warns Chris that this will become harder to do as they travel further. They eventually reach a place occupied by people who were violent criminals while they were alive. Chris is forced to witness a series of dreadful sights and gets gruesomely attacked by a mob, though he soon discovers that the attack occurred only in his mind.

They finally depart from that particularly violent section of Hell, arriving at last at Ann's place. It resembles a dark, depressing version of the neighborhood where he and Ann used to live. Albert explains that she will not immediately recognize Chris, and that he can only gradually convince her who he is and what has happened to her. Ann believes that she is living alone in her house where nothing seems to work, grieving her husband's death. This is her private "Hell" - an exaggerated version of what she had been experiencing prior to her suicide.

Identifying himself as a new neighbor, Chris makes numerous unsuccessful attempts to make her realize the true situation. He describes details of his own life so that she will be reminded of her husband. He calls her attention to the improbably negative conditions of the house. He drops in clues, gradually leading her to the truth, but she seems to block out anything that will cause recognition. He finally tells her the truth straight out. She gets angry and calls him a liar. Because she does not believe in afterlife, she finds it impossible that he could be her dead husband.

After a moment of disorientation where he starts to forget his own identity, the atmosphere of Hell gradually drawing him in and threatening to trap him there, he delivers a long monologue of appreciation for her, detailing all the ways in which she enriched his life. He finally makes the most dreaded decision of all: he decides to stay with her and not return to Summerland. As he begins losing consciousness, Ann finally recognizes him and realizes what has happened.

Chris awakens in Summerland once again. Albert, who is amazed that Chris was able to rescue Ann, informs him that she has been [url=/topic/reincarnation]reborn[/url] on Earth, because she is not ready for Summerland. Chris wants to be reborn too, despite Albert's protests. Chris learns that he and Ann have had several previous lives, and in all of them they had a special connection with each other.

As the manuscript comes to a close, Chris explains that he is soon going to be reborn and will forget all that has happened. He ends with a message of hope, telling his readers that death is not to be feared, and that he knows in the future he and Ann will ultimately be reunited in Heaven, even if in different form.

Some [url=/topic/hindu-1]Hindus[/url] claim that the beliefs presented in the novel conform well to the teachings of [url=/topic/hinduism]Hinduism[/url], though Matheson denies any direct influence. Raised a [url=/topic/christian-science-1]Christian Scientist[/url], Matheson gradually developed what he calls his own religion, taking elements from many sources. "As a [url=/topic/pisces-astrology]Pisces[/url]," he explains, "I have been fascinated about parapsychology, metaphysics and the supernatural ever since I was a teenager. The concepts in the book are derived from my wide range of reading."^[3] One of Matheson's primary influences was [url=/topic/harold-w-percival-1]Harold W. Percival[/url], an adherent of [url=/topic/theosophy]Theosophy[/url], a belief system with a strong Eastern and Hindu influence.^[4]

One character quotes from the writings of 18th century [url=/topic/christian-mysticism]Christian mystic[/url] [url=/topic/emanuel-swedenborg]Emanuel Swedenborg[/url].^[5] Matheson bases his descriptions of the death experience itself on studies by [url=/topic/elisabeth-k-bler-ross-2]Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross[/url] and [url=/topic/raymond-moody]Raymond Moody[/url].^[6] When reading these accounts, Matheson found that revived suicides told a much more frightening story than anyone else who had [url=/topic/effects-of-near-death-experiences]near death experiences[/url].^[7]

Matheson's bibliography consists more of "[url=/topic/new-age]New Age[/url]" material than mainstream religious sources, and the novel shows reincarnation to be more voluntary than major world religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism usually depict it.^[4]