Blue Sisters

Before Nicky’s death, she and Bonnie lived together in the apartment in New York City where the sisters grew up. At the start of the novel, the sisters learn that their parents are going to sell the apartment and that someone will need to finally remove Nicky’s belongings. The apartment symbolizes the childhood and shared history between the sisters, as well as their simultaneous desire to escape and retain those bonds. At the beginning of the novel, none of the sisters have visited the apartment for almost a year, and none of them plan to; at the same time, they can’t bear the idea of anything changing there. Avery describes her financial contributions as a way of “pa[ying] for time to stand still” (57). Their inaction symbolizes the lack of progress they have made in navigating their grief; the sisters have isolated themselves from each other and the important people in their lives (such as Chiti and Pavel). They have locked up their pain just like they locked up the apartment and left it untouched.

By coming back to the apartment and sorting through Nicky’s belongings, the sisters symbolically begin to reckon with their grief and confront their shared past. The result is challenging: Lucky and Avery have a severe confrontation and say cruel things to one another. The shared space of the apartment represents the intimacy and intensity of the bond between the women; notably, the apartment is quite small and often feels cramped and even stifling. The small space symbolizes how the sisters are unable to hide anything from each other and have to cope with the discomfort of finding their emotions exposed to one another. Eventually, the apartment is sold, which symbolizes the beginning of a new stage in their lives and relationship. Although the apartment is sold, all of the sisters eventually end up living in New York City. This shift symbolizes how they let go of some of the unhealthy dynamics in their relationship without sacrificing their bond.