Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

I saw Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors was a Waterstones Book of the Month a couple of months back. I picked it up and was tempted, but then didn’t buy it. When I saw it in Sainsbury’s a few days later, for about half the price, I decided I needed to buy it. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Blue Sisters is one of the best books I’ve read this year.

It is the story of three American sisters, who are in their late 20s and early 30s. Their surname is Blue, but they are definitely also blue in the depressed sense.

Avery is a lawyer living in London. Struggling to keep a secret life under control, she is in danger of ruining her marriage. Bonnie was a world champion boxer, but now she’s living in LA working as a bouncer in a bar. Lucky has been a model since she was 15, whose hard partying is threatening her career.

And then there was Nicky.

It’s a year since their beloved third sister died and they are all struggling to deal with their loss. Trying to support each other means arguing and pushing away from each other. Because it seems that’s just what sisters do.

When they all meet up at their childhood home before it is put on the market, can they learn to deal with their own issues and look after each other? Or have their bonds already been stretched too far?

Blue Sisters is a beautiful, moving book and I absolutely devoured it. It’s not an easy read. Although I have no experience of what they have been through, it feels very raw and real. The chapters are quite long and are written in the third person, focusing on each of the remaining sisters in turn.

If a moving read is your cup of tea, I would highly recommend Blue Sisters. But if you are grieving, I would recommend you give it a miss for now.