It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a full and proper book review, so let’s go.
Plot: A family of four exceptional, yet exceptionally different sisters – Avery Blue, the lawyer with a contrasting past, Bonnie Blue, the ex-decorated boxer, Nicky Blue, the sweetheart with a gift for teaching, who is no more, and Lucky Blue, the youngest, wildest and haute-st of them all. The story starts a year after Nicky’s untimely death during the 4th of July weekend, when the sisters have all taken routes and built roots away from their childhood home in New York. Their mother sends them an unemotional letter stating that she would be selling their childhood home, and she requests them to come and collect their belongings by the end of the month. What follows is a gripping and cathartic story, told from the perspectives of the three remaining Blue sisters, jumping between reminiscing about the past year, the years before Nicky died, and meandering through the present. How do the sisters come to terms with their individual grief of having lost Nicky, who was a little-child/hand-holder/best-friend to them respectively? How do they gather the courage to move forward while fumbling in the darkness of death, making decisions they would not have been drawn to make, had their sister been alive? How do they run into the realisation that the bond of sisterhood is what will get them through and get them back on track together, even if it’s no longer depicted by the lucky clover and just a regular one?
Why I felt drawn to it: Having read her debut novel last year (Cleopatra and Frankenstein), I had already fallen in love with Mellors’ writing style. Her books are extremely character driven. She describes interpersonal relationships beautifully – you actually believe that you know Avery, Bonnie, Nicky and Lucky so well, as if they are people in your frequently contacted list. Plus, because of how invested I was in the lives of Cleo, Frank, Avery, Bonnie and Lucky, I felt that I could read these books in one sitting (though I didn’t, because life keeps happening). Furthermore, Mellors frames big rambling sentences in her books, which happen to be my favourite to write and read. When superbly written and edited (like in her books), these chunky sentences make for perfect vessels for conveying really expansive thoughts.
Character analysis: Out of the three Blue sisters, I think I could see parts of myself in each of them – the workaholic lawyer (her tastefully and painstakingly decorated home in Hampstead, England ignited in me the desire to start thinking of my home as more than just a place to rest), or the dedicated boxer (her act of walking away from something she does the best for emotional reasons struck a chord), or the hedonistic model (her thing about not being able to walk more than a block without wearing headphones brought a tear to my eye at the realisation that I’m not alone). The supporting characters, Chiti (Avery’s partner), Pavel (Bonnie’s boxing coach and mentor) and Troll Doll (Lucky’s friend and ONS interest) carry their own weight to draw the story together by their interactions with the main characters and thus carry the sub-plots forward.
The ending was a happy one, which seemed incongruous with the entire narrative that the sisters had a tough life and never got a break. My cynical mind immediately guffawed at the coincidence of all three sisters having their lives back on track, or some more than the other. Still, it did feel okay to have this happy ending, even if it was just so in fiction.
Would I read it again? Yes, if I’m looking for an emotional, descriptive read but a predictable storyline.
Some excerpts from the book which I really loved:
Avery had previously thought love was built on large, visible gestures, but a marriage turned out to be the accrual of ordinary, almost inconsequential, acts of daily devotion – washing the mugs left in the sink before bed, taking the time to run up or downstairs to kiss each other quickly before one left the house, cutting up an extra piece of fruit to share – acts easy to miss, but if ever gone, deeply missed.
Most people go through life never knowing what it’s like to have a calling, one that asks you to sacrifice the pleasure of the moment for the potential of a dream that may not be realized for years, if at all. It sets you apart from others, whether you want it to or not. It can be grueling, lonely and punishing, but, if it is really your calling, it is not a choice.
If you, like me, can’t get enough of Coco Mellors writing, check out her essays on anxious relationships, the solitude of writing, and sobriety.
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