The debut novel from Coco Mellors, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, about hedonistic creatives in New York City, was a runaway bestseller that read as if written for screen adaptation and Mellors is now developing it as a TV show for Warner Brothers. The social commentary of the novel, however, sometimes made for uncomfortable reading – with stereotypes and sweeping cultural assumptions galore – without it being clear if these blind spots belonged to Mellor or her characters. In her second novel, Blue Sisters, there is greater maturity to the writing, with a somewhat deeper appreciation for substance over style.
The new offering focuses on three sisters reeling in the aftermath of the death of the fourth, Nicky, a teacher with crippling pain from endometriosis. Through alternating chapters, we follow the lives of Avery (a lawyer in London), Bonnie (refreshingly, a pro boxer in the United States), and Lucky (a model living in Paris). The complicated dynamic of sibling relationships is fertile ground for Mellors and she is excellent at dissecting their individual, and collective responses, to grief.
The characterisation of each of the sisters is strong, offering a complexity and humanity that elevates what at times reads as quite tedious exposition of the past, repetition of thought, and frustratingly slow forward momentum. Where Mellors’ characterisation struggles is in the writing of ordinary people who exist outside the bubble of the exceptional and the privileged, the working classes in the fringes of the lives of her protagonists. For a writer who was raised in London and New York, the drawing of London is also oddly superficial.
Mellors’ debut highlighted her talent for a twinkling turn of phrase and clever wordplay, but one that was weakened by its overuse. This tendency to over-write, over-explain and tell all in often excruciating detail prevails here. This authorial anxiety is captured beautifully when Avery condescends to her sister: “I’m speaking both literally and metaphorically, here.” This novel would be twice as good at half the length.
Perhaps in her third novel Mellors will have the confidence to trust her readers and experiment with suggestion as a tool that can be so much more powerful than explanation. Nonetheless, for the myriad fans who loved Mellors’ debut for its conversational intimacy and instagrammable settings, they are unlikely to be disappointed by Blue Sisters. The main narrative is not centred on lovers this time, but the sibling chemistry crackles, which ultimately delivers a sophomoric story from Mellors with a more convincing heartbeat.
