Summer Sisters

“‘It’s my Native American gene. I’m one-sixteenth Cherokee on my mother’s side.’

‘God, that is so interesting! I wish I had unusual genes.’”

Though Blume published her novel in 1998, she anticipates contemporary discourse. The dialogue between Vix and Caitlin reflects the appeal of ethnic ambiguity—a thesis argued by the contemporary cultural critic Jia Tolentino in “The Age of Instagram Face” (The New Yorker, Dec. 12, 2019).

“It wasn’t that they didn’t have The Power anymore, it was that they couldn’t use it together. They didn’t know why. Something about it just didn’t feel right.”

As Caitlin and Vix collect experiences, they stop playing “Vixen and Cassandra Meet Von,” a game that involves mutual masturbation. Blume later hints that they both experience attraction to one another and that it lingers into adulthood, with Caitlin dating a woman similar to Vix, and Vix fantasizing about Caitlin and her flamenco dance.

“With summer, the problems of the world, her world anyway, magically lifted from her shoulders.”

The diction turns the Vineyard into a symbol for magic. It’s an enchanted place where Vix’s troubles—especially her family’s financial strain and her mother’s emotional unavailability—vanish.

“Some guys, once they get turned on, can’t help themselves. They can’t think rationally. Some guys follow their pointers through life.”

Tim’s lecture is ironic, and the twist is that he follows his “pointer.” His talk is also sexist, and Blume undercuts Tim’s stereotypical trope by creating women characters who are as consumed by sex as men.

“Caitlin was dazzling at seventeen. Her hair cascaded down her back, her skin was moist and flawless, and the expression on her face dared anyone to mess with her.”

Blume uses imagery to illustrate Caitlin’s appearance, but also her demeanor—at least a third-person perspective on it. Throughout the novel, readers are rarely aware of how Caitlin feels or perceives herself.

“[H]is father always said, You don’t shit where you eat.”

Gus’s dad tries to give him advice about sex through crude diction, warning him against complicating his own trips to the Vineyard by becoming involved with Vix. Gus doesn’t follow his dad’s advice: He not only has sex with Vix but marries her.

“Mess around with the money folks, wind up getting burned.”

Trisha’s belief is a red herring: Despite her temporary leave from Lamb and Abby’s home, Vix doesn’t get “burned” by Caitlin and her family. She takes advantage of the opportunities they provide her and creates an independent life.

“Only weeks ago Vix had been convinced her friendship with Caitlin was over. How childish that seemed to her now. If a friend is someone you can depend on when life gets tough, then Caitlin was her friend.”

Nathan’s death brings Vix and Caitlin back together and gives Caitlin a chance to reveal another side of herself. She’s a good friend who sticks with Vix through the tough times.

“When she was with him, time stood still. Every cliché she’d ever heard about love made complete sense.”

Blume uses hyperbolic diction to stress Vix’s intense love for Bru. Words like “every” and “ever” indicate its sweeping power.

“‘You mean she’s like a…teenaged mother? A statistic?’

‘Exactly. She’s a statistic.’”

Maia’s and Vix’s dialogue about Vix’s teen sister and baby is ironic. Despite her belief that Maia comes from “privileged suburbia” and is unable to understand the Leonards’ reality, Vix doesn’t defend her sister’s humanity. She cheekily agrees—Lanie is a stat.

“She lets him know exactly what she thinks of Nancy Reagan and her Just Say No campaign. As if simplistic slogans can solve the problems of the world!”

Paisley reveals her Democratic beliefs by scolding Nancy Reagan. She also anticipates contemporary discourse about the effectiveness of online activism, with social justice hashtags and calls to action standing in for “simplistic slogans.”

“You come back here once in three years and think you can fix everything just like that? You don’t know shit about any of us.”

Lanie’s abrasive tone makes Vix look arrogant and snobbish. Her diction demonstrates her frustration with Vix’s physical estrangement from her family.

“For once she was following her Power, not her heart, and it didn’t feel that bad.”

Vix juxtaposes her Power—her libido—with her heart and chooses the former. Undercutting gender norms, she shows that women can make choices centered on sexual attraction.

“Vix was used to the way Caitlin flitted around the world, like a bumblebee in search of the most exotic blossom.”

Using a simile, Blume compares Caitlin to a bumblebee. Like a bee, she can sting (harm people), and she’s hard to control.

“[O]nly Paisley slept around, refusing to waste her youth worrying about some disease she wasn’t going to get, because the men in her life were Ivy League types, from good families.”

Paisley reveals her classism by thinking privileged people could avoid contracting AIDS. Conversely, her classism reveals why AIDS eventually garnered notable media attention—it impacted people in well-off spaces.

“She picked up an Empire State paperweight and Vix ducked. This was the professional world?”

Vix’s boss, Dinah, reveals that experience can be cruel and that women can be as pernicious as men. The rhetorical question adds to Vix’s disbelief over the misbehavior of adults.

“It’s over…we’re over. Fini, finis, finito.”

Blume repeats the words “fini, finis, finito” throughout the story. Vix hears a girl with red hair say them while breaking up with Bru. She later repeats the same words to Will and then Bru. The phrase has alliteration, and it’s a way to assert control.

“‘Mom…’ Amber shouted into the phone, ‘it’s Anti-Vix!’ She pronounced it as if it were some right-wing political group.”

Lanie’s kids add humor to the story. Her daughter calls Vix “Anti-Vix,” as if she’s anti, adversarial, or a virulent right-wing “political group.” There’s irony—Vix is a Democrat.

“You’re not thirteen anymore. She has no power over you.”

Maia connects Vix and Caitlin’s relationship to Innocence Versus Experience. She doesn’t realize that their relationship is not about power—it’s about sticking with a friend and accepting their flaws.

“Caitlin isn’t someone to get over. She’s someone to come to terms with, the way you have to come to terms with your parents, your siblings.”

Vix explains why she tries to stay close with Caitlin. She’s not only a friend—she’s a family member. Vix highlights the role of acceptance in relationships—of loving someone in spite of their flaws.

“[H]e knows that he knows she didn’t sleep in her room. But he doesn’t have a clue about where she spent the night or with whom.”

At Caitlin’s wedding, Vix has sex with Bru. Phoebe’s boyfriend sees her early in the morning and has suspicions, but like Caitlin, Vix remains a mystery to him.

“She has a feeling that Caitlin is about to pull something but she doesn’t know what.”

Vix’s feelings foreshadow Caitlin’s actions after the wedding. What Caitlin “pulls” is leaving her family and then, possibly, killing herself.

“Two weeks turns into two months, two months into two years.”

Blume uses alliteration and repetition to show how Caitlin’s absence continues. The twos build up, and so does Caitlin’s disappearance.