Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
The Blue sisters — Avery, Bonnie, Nicky, and Lucky — grew up in a household where the distance their mother created, largely due to their father’s alcoholism, forged a strong but complex bond between the four sisters. As adults, they spread out into their own unique approaches to life. Avery, the oldest sister, is an accomplished lawyer but continues to grapple with her own addiction problems while maintaining a seemingly perfect life with her wife in their large home in London. Bonnie is working as a bouncer in Los Angeles after a devastating defeat in an important boxing match. The youngest, Lucky, whose own addiction issues have reached a boiling point, is struggling to maintain the successful modeling career she’s had since she was fifteen. Nicky, who had become a school teacher, died the previous year from an apparent overdose. Now, the three remaining sisters reluctantly convene in NYC following an email from their mother stating that she plans to sell the apartment where they grew up, where Nicky had lived, and where she was found.
Mellors sets up a novel that proves to be an emotional journey as we follow the three sisters — and a bit of their mother — through their shared grief over losing one of their own. Each sister is a distinct facet within the whole, fully realized and knowable. In addition to themes of grief and pain, Mellors covers a wide mix of addiction, identity, self-awareness, and the web of interpersonal relationships.
Blue Sisters is one of those books that I felt was trying, or wanting, to draw more from the emotional well but never quite got there. I really liked it but didn’t love it. I thought it was emotional but had some room to spare — and the ending felt a touch too easy. Perhaps this is just because the room wasn’t there to delve deeper, with time devoted to each sister in turn. However, I did appreciate the journey Mellors ultimately took each character on. And I still intend to read the previous book, Cleopatra and Frankenstein.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.
