“Sestra nije prijateljica. Odakle uopće poriv da se odnos tako primaran i složen kao što je odnos sa sestrom svede na nešto toliko zamjenjivo, toliko banalno, kao što je prijateljstvo? A ipak se taj izraz stalno i iznova koristi za opisivanje vrhunske bliskosti. Majka mi je najbolja prijateljica. Muž mi je najbolji prijatelj. Ne. Pravo sestrinstvo, ono u kojem ste obje puštale nokte u istoj utrobi, bile uz vrisak istiskivane niz isti porođajni kanal, nije isto što i prijateljstvo. Ne birate jedna drugu, nema tu razdoblja u kojem se kradomice proučavate. Dio ste jedna druge, od samog početka. Pogledajte samo pupčanu vrpcu – žilavu, zavrnutu, nelijepu, a ipak esencijalnu – pa je usporedite s narukvicom prijateljstva ispletenom od uzica veselih boja. Eto u tome je razlika između sestre i prijateljice.”

Roman Sestre Blue duboko je emotivna i poetična priča koja se od prve stranice uvlači pod kožu. Autorica majstorski stvara priču kroz nježne, gotovo lirske rečenice, koje pozivaju čitatelja da se izgubi u njima – ne samo zbog stila, već i zbog težine i istinitosti emocija koje prenose.

U središtu priče su četiri sestre, svaka sa svojim ranama, traumama i načinima nošenja s boli. Njihova priča nije samo priča o gubitku već i priča o preživljavanju, o pokušajima da se pronađe smisao i mir unatoč naslijeđenim traumama.

Roman vrlo jasno prikazuje razorne posljedice ovisnosti, alkoholizma i emocionalne zapuštenosti u obitelji, duboke ožiljke koje to ostavlja djeci. Ove traume se prenose generacijski, oblikujući njihove identitete i izbore. Dok neke tonu u paklu droge, tableta ili alkohola, druga svoju bol kanalizira kroz neprestano testiranje fizičke izdržljivosti.

Unatoč težini teme, roman ne ostavlja čitatelja bez nade. Kroz prisjećanja, introspektivne trenutke i međusobne odnose, sestre polako pronalaze put prema iscjeljenju. A kraj je upravo onakav kakav sam priželjkivala u ovako teškoj i emotivnoj knjizi, ono što mi je trebalo da se ne osjećam jadno i poraženo, pružio mi je osjećaj završetka i ispunjenosti.

Ono što ovu knjigu također čini posebnom jest i njezina sposobnost da prikaže likove kao stvarne ljude – sa svim svojim slabostima, ali i snagama. Ne promatramo njihove živote izvana, već ih proživljavamo s njima, na kraju imate osjećaj da se to sve vama događalo. To je snaga ove priče: empatija koju budi, i istina koju ne pokušava uljepšati.

Ovo nije knjiga za čitanje u jednom dahu, već za polagano upijanje, a njezin emocionalni doseg i dubina ostaju s čitateljem dugo nakon posljednje stranice.

 

[english]

“A sister is not a friend. Who can explain the urge to take a relationship as primal and complex as a sibling and reduce it to something as replaceable, as banal as a friend? Yet this status is used again and again to connote the highest intimacy. True sisterhood is not the same as friendship. You don’t choose each other and there is no furtive period of getting to know each other. You are a part of each other, right from the start. 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.”

Blue Sisters – Coco Mellors

The novel Blue Sisters is a deeply emotional and poetic story that gets under your skin from the first page. The author masterfully creates a story through gentle, almost lyrical sentences, which invite the reader to get lost in them – not only because of the style, but also because of the weight and truth of the emotions they convey.

At the center of the story are four sisters, each with their own wounds, traumas and ways of dealing with pain. Their story is not only a story of loss but also a story of survival, of attempts to find meaning and peace despite inherited traumas.

The novel very clearly shows the devastating consequences of addiction, alcoholism and emotional neglect in the family, the deep scars it leaves on children. These traumas are passed down through generations, shaping their identities and choices. While some sink into the hell of drugs, pills or alcohol, others channel their pain through constant testing of physical endurance.

Despite the gravity of the topic, the novel does not leave the reader without hope. Through reminiscences, introspective moments and mutual relationships, the sisters slowly find a path to healing. And the ending is exactly what I wanted in such a difficult and emotional book, what I needed to not feel miserable and defeated, it gave me a sense of completion and fulfillment.

What also makes this book special is its ability to portray the characters as real people – with all their weaknesses, but also their strengths. We don’t observe their lives from the outside, but live them with them, and in the end you feel like it was all happening to you. That’s the strength of this story: the empathy it evokes, and the truth it doesn’t try to whitewash.

This is not a book to be read in one sitting, but to be absorbed slowly, and its emotional reach and depth stay with the reader long after the last page.

“It was easy to love someone in the beginnings and endings; it was all the time in between that was so hard.”