Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance portrays sibling bonds as formative connections that persist and evolve even long after death. Espach uses the novel’s second-person narrative structure to frame this bond as an ongoing, dynamic relationship that shapes the narrator’s identity. Sally’s story, addressed entirely to her older sister, illustrates how this foundational bond is redefined by loss, forcing the living sister to navigate her own life in constant, imagined conversation with the one she’s lost.

The novel’s structure immediately establishes Kathy as a continual presence in Sally’s life. By framing the narrative as a direct address beginning with, “You disappeared on a school night” (3), Espach transforms the act of remembering into an active dialogue. Kathy is the intended audience for every memory and confession, making her an inescapable influence on Sally’s reconstruction of the past and understanding of the present. In the immediate aftermath of the accident, this bond manifests as a merging of identities. Sally immerses herself in Kathy’s life, wearing her clothes, sleeping in her bed, and cultivating a more intimate relationship with Billy. This initial stage of grief shows Sally attempting to keep her sister alive by becoming a proxy for her, demonstrating the profound degree to which her identity is intertwined with Kathy’s.