Chapter Nine: Avery – Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Avery returns home late to find her wife, Chiti, waiting. Chiti confronts Avery about a man’s earring she found and reveals she checked Avery’s search history. Avery admits to sleeping with the poet Charlie but insists it meant nothing. A vicious argument erupts: Chiti smashes a honeymoon vase and walks through the glass, accusing Avery of pulling away for a year. They partially reconcile, but the next morning Chiti moves to the guest bedroom. A week later, Avery flies to New York. She surprises Bonnie and Lucky at Nicky’s apartment. The three sisters haul a pink Smeg refrigerator home, then sort Nicky’s closet. Memories surface, especially a Spice Girls T-shirt that triggers stories about their childhood and Nicky’s desperation to fit in. Tensions between the sisters boil over: Avery learns Lucky has been getting clean with Bonnie’s help but is now ambivalent about staying sober. Avery and Lucky exchange cruel insults; Avery says it should have been Lucky in the casket instead of Nicky. Bonnie reveals she has feelings for her former trainer Pavel and that she found Nicky’s body. The chapter ends with the three sisters estranged, each carrying their own grief and guilt.

Key Events

Chiti confronts Avery about her affair with Charlie; she smashes a honeymoon vase and walks on the broken glass
Avery and Chiti have a tense reconciliation; Chiti moves to the guest bedroom the next morning
Avery arrives in New York and surprises Bonnie and Lucky
The sisters find and carry home a pink Smeg refrigerator they believe Nicky would have loved
They begin sorting Nicky’s belongings and find a vintage Spice Girls tour T-shirt
Memories of the Spice Girls concert and Nicky giving her shirt to Carter Beaumont surface
Lucky reveals she has been sober for a week with Bonnie’s help, but now says she’s only “taking a break”
Avery and Lucky argue viciously: Avery says Lucky is destined to follow in Nicky’s footsteps and that it should have been Lucky in the coffin
Bonnie confesses her feelings for Pavel; she and Avery argue about Bonnie quitting boxing
Bonnie reminds Avery that she was the one who found Nicky’s body, not Avery

Character Development

Avery: Falls further from her controlled, eldest-sister persona. Her affair reveals deep unhappiness and a pattern of sabotage. She lashes out at both sisters, showing her inability to hold her own fragility.
Chiti: Emerges as fiercely loving but wounded. She refuses to let Avery hide from the wreckage, and though she says her love is unconditional, she puts physical distance between them.
Lucky: Defensive and evasive about her addiction. She resists being labeled but admits she misses Nicky constantly. Her hurt after Avery’s cruel comment makes her more sympathetic.
Bonnie: The peacekeeper finally speaks her pain. She reveals her secret love for Pavel and the trauma of discovering Nicky’s body, asserting that her grief is real and separate from Avery’s.
Nicky: Remembered through objects and stories—a people pleaser who wanted desperately to be normal, a sister whose addiction was hidden behind a cheerful facade.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Betrayal and Trust: Avery’s affair is a betrayal not only of Chiti but of the trust between all the sisters; the broken vase literalizes a shattered marriage.
Addiction and Denial: Lucky’s ambivalence about sobriety and Avery’s self-destructive acts (affair, stealing) show how addiction patterns infect even those who are not using.
Family Secrets: Each sister guards a secret (affair, relapse, feelings for Pavel, trauma of finding the body). The chapter explodes when these secrets collide.
The Fantasy of Normalcy: Nicky’s desire to be normal—giving away her Spice Girls shirt, buying cheap clothes—contrasts with the family’s dysfunction. Avery admits Nicky was “addicted to the fantasy of normalcy.”
Objects as Memory: The pink fridge, the broken vase, the Spice Girls tee—each object carries emotional weight and triggers memory, connecting the sisters to their shared past.

Why This Chapter Matters

This is the emotional climax of the sisters’ interactions in the present timeline. It forces Avery to confront the consequences of her affair, reveals the fragility of Lucky’s sobriety, and exposes Bonnie’s hidden grief. The argument in Nicky’s closet mirrors the earlier fight with Chiti: both scenes involve breaking, bleeding, and the impossibility of fixing what is already damaged. The chapter makes clear that each sister is grieving alone, and the family structure Avery has propped up for years is collapsing. It sets up Avery’s possible separation from Chiti and the deepening rift between the sisters.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Chiti walk on the broken glass, and what does this action symbolize?
Chiti walks on the glass to force Avery to stay in the moment of destruction instead of trying to clean up or hide the mess. It symbolizes the pain of the betrayal; by physically hurting herself, she makes her emotional pain visible and indisputable.

2. What does the Spice Girls T‑shirt reveal about Nicky’s character and the family’s past?
The T‑shirt represents a rare moment of unity for the four sisters, but also Nicky’s willingness to abandon a beloved gift to gain social acceptance from Carter Beaumont. It illustrates her lifelong craving for normalcy and belonging, an early sign of her later pattern of self-abandonment.

3. How does Avery’s comment “it would have been you in that casket” destroy the relationship between the sisters?
The insult directly attacks Lucky’s worth and invokes the family’s fear of losing another sister. It shatters any remaining trust; Bonnie recoils, and Lucky leaves. Avery’s words prove she is lashing out from her own guilt, but the damage is immediate and likely irreversible.