A Sister Is not a Friend
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Three sisters – Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky Blue – are thrown for a loop in the aftermath of their sister Nicky’s death. Officially, she died of an overdose at the age of 27, but it was not recreational drugs that caused her demise, it was pain medication instead.
As the book opens, a year has passed and the three sisters are still reeling from their loss. All of them have done things to sabotage their very successful lives as a result of their pain.
Avery is the eldest at 33. She is a lawyer in London, happily married to a loving wife, and sober for ten years. But suddenly she is going back to old habits like shoplifting and smoking.
Bonnie, the second oldest, was a world-class boxer. She almost got herself killed in the ring – intentionally it seemed – and then left her career to become a bouncer in a bar in Los Angeles.
And then Lucky, the baby of the family, has been a super model since the age of 15 and has lived all over the world on her own. Always one to party, she takes things to such an extreme after Nicky’s death that she gets fired from the agency representing her.
Nicky was the only sister who lived in New York City, the city in which they were raised. But they all come back to New York when their parents decide to sell the family home and the issue of Nicky’s possessions needs to be addressed.
In alternating chapters, the sisters tell us their back stories and fill us in on life in the Blue family. Thus we learn about the mother who left most of the mothering to Avery. And we learn about the father who was alcoholic.
This very brief rundown of the main characters also introduces two main topics of the book. Book clubs will want to talk about the sway of addiction across a given family and about the unique bond of sisters. And probably being sisters is the most important topic.
Indeed, the opening line tells us, “A sister is not a friend.” It goes on to tell us that likewise, a good friend is not a sister, no matter how close we may feel to that person. And then the difference is graphically described this way: “Look at an umbilical cord – tough, sinuous, unlovely, yet essential – and compare it to a friendship bracelet of brightly woven thread. That is the difference between a sister and a friend.”
I like this description of blood relatives. It is my main takeaway from this book, a compelling exploration of the Blue family.
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Click here to learn more about Blue Sisters on Amazon.
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If you like my writing, I hope you will check out my new book, Chai on Life. “Chai” is a mystical word in Hebrew. It is pronounced “high” making this book High on Life with a Jewish slant. It is available wherever books are sold and on Amazon.
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