35 % Off

Robert Smith, an insurance agent based in a mysterious Michigan town, appears in the opening moment of Song of Solomon wearing blue silk wings. He leaps from Mercy Hospital’s rooftop, boasting that he can soar above Lake Superior.

Rather than flying, he dies in the fall. The town’s first Black physician’s daughter, Ruth Foster Dead, gives birth the following day at Mercy Hospital to the first Black child in the town, named Milkman Death.

When Milkman discovers that people can’t fly at age four, he starts withdrawing from others. His aunt Pilate and his mother both love him, yet he doesn’t reciprocate. His withdrawn nature leads many to label him as odd. His sisters, First Corinthians and Magdalene, take care of him.

Milkman carries an emotional wound triggered by the injustices faced by earlier generations and inherited by those who come after. His father, Macon Dead, earned a curious nickname after a Union soldier who was intoxicated, which muddled his official records.

As children, Milkman and Pilate witnessed their father’s death, an event that left them marked and driven them apart. Milkman grows obsessed with amassing wealth. He is disliked by both his family and his tenants.

When Milkman is 32, his father reveals that his Aunt Pilate might be concealing millions in gold beneath a green tarp hanging from her cottage.

Guitar Bains, who helped Milkman in the robbery, is frustrated to find there’s no gold because he needs it to complete a mission for the Seven Days, a secret group dedicated to avenging Black people who were wrongly accused of killing innocent Whites.

Milkman rafts Pilate and discovers that the green tarp is actually full of rocks and the skeleton of his grandfather, Macon Dead I.

Milkman is told that the treasure might lie in a cave near Macon’s old Pennsylvania farm. He agrees to give Guitar a portion of whatever he finds when he leaves Michigan and heads south.

Before departing, Milkman ends things with Hagar, a breakup that drives her to madness and leads to several attempts on his life. Upon reaching Montour County in Pennsylvania, Milkman discovers there is no gold. Instead, he decides to explore his family history.

In his path, he meets Circe, the midwife who delivered Pilate and Macon Jr. She reveals that Macon’s given name was Jake and that he married Sing, an Indigenous woman. Guitar wishes to kill Milkman, feeling cheated out of a share of the treasure, not realizing that he is being shadowed.

Inspired by Circe’s revelations, Milkman continues south to Shalimar, Virginia, the home of his grandfather’s relatives. He feels uneasy at first, but as he uncovers more about his lineage, he grows to love the town’s atmosphere.

Milkman learns that Solomon, the legendary flying African, is his great-grandfather. It’s said Solomon went back to Africa after escaping slavery. Jacob, Milkman’s grandfather, was dropped despite his best efforts to keep him safe.

Ryna, his wife, and their twenty-one children were left behind by Solomon. After Ryna loses her mind from the sorrow over her husband’s death, Jake is raised by Heddy, Sing’s mother. The revelations about his family history prompt a transformation in Milkman, turning him into a compassionate, responsible, and purposeful person.

Following Guitar’s attempt on his life, Milkman returns home to tell Macon Jr. and Pilate what he has learned. On his way back, he discovers that Hagar has died from a broken heart, and his family still grapples with deep psychological wounds.

Milkman then goes back to Shalimar with Pilate, where they bury Jake’s body on Solomon’s Leap—the mountain that marked the start of Solomon’s journey to Africa.

During the burial, Guitar, who had been trying to kill Milkman, accidentally shoots Pilate. Struck by Pilate’s death but emboldened by his newfound growth, Milkman calls out Guitar’s name and lunges toward him.