The Sisters

In 1993, after the Mikkolas moved away, Jonas’s father became withdrawn, and his business ventures failed. In fall, a new girl named Radhika joined Jonas’s class. To make friends, Radhika gave away her toys. Jonas initially avoided her, fearing that association with an outcast would make him a target for bullies. However, when Radhika offered him a set of figurines, he accepted them for his younger brothers. Later, Radhika invited him to her apartment. After learning that Jonas’s family didn’t own a VCR or a Nintendo, she gave him her old ABC 80 computer. Jonas’s mother wanted him to return the gift, but his father, unimpressed, allowed him to keep it. Jonas told his mother that he might use the computer for writing.

In late May 2000, Ina grows anxious that Hector is about to break up with her. He has rescinded his invitation for her to join his family on their west-coast summer vacation, giving a vague excuse about the house being too crowded. While they have been inseparable, Ina worries whether they’re having their last night together. 

Unable to sleep in Hector’s bed, Ina finds a box of old photos and opens an envelope he had hidden from her earlier. She finds dozens of photos of Hector with another man, including intimate photos. Hector wakes up and catches her, his disappointment clear. He says nothing and goes back to bed. The next morning, Hector is cold, prompting Ina to pack her belongings and leave.

Jonas recalls that a few weeks after the Mikkolas left the neighborhood, Jonas’s mother bought an expensive, handwoven Tunisian carpet from the Mikkola sisters’ mother. The purchase infuriated Jonas’s father, who believed the carpet was a factory-made fake and that his wife had been scammed. This drove his mental-health crisis and depression, which subsequently impacted his lifestyle. His recent diabetes diagnosis further worried his children. Jonas’s younger brothers noticed the change and expressed their concern to him. Jonas’s mother explained that their father was grieving bad news about his firstborn daughter, who lived in another country.

Ina, Evelyn, and Anastasia have dinner together. During the meal, Ina confesses her fears that Hector will break up with her. She tells her sisters that she discovered pictures of him with another man, which he had never mentioned. Evelyn and Anastasia are supportive, reassuring Ina that she has done nothing wrong and that Hector’s past is his own business. The three sisters spend the evening together watching a soap opera, providing Ina with much-needed comfort. 

The next day, Evelyn secretly calls Hector. A few days later, Hector contacts Ina and re-invites her to his family’s summer house, explaining that they can stay in a separate cabin. Meanwhile, Anastasia starts looking for a job, even though Ina has stopped pressing her about rent.

In November 1993, Jonas persuaded his father to attend one of his tennis matches. Jonas was desperate to win and prove his worth to his father, who was always more impressed by the other more naturally talented players. However, Jonas played poorly and lost the match. Afterward, he wept. The opponent’s father offered them a ride, but Jonas’s father proudly refused, claiming that his wife was picking them up. The two walked back to the train station in the rain.

During her job hunt, Anastasia invokes Maktoub, the Goddess of Destiny whom her mother used to mention, and sets out looking for signs of what kind of job to pursue. She runs into Dino, an old acquaintance she knew from when she had a drug addiction and who now works at a preschool. Dino tells her that the preschool is understaffed and encourages her to apply. With Dino’s help, Anastasia gets an interview with the boss, Kerstin Holmström. A few days later, she’s hired as a substitute and begins working with the children, who immediately pepper her with unfiltered questions about her appearance.

In January 1994, Jonas and his father began a computer course together at his mother’s insistence. Jonas quickly understood the basic programming commands, but his father was uninterested and struggled to follow along. When the instructor asked them to create a password, Jonas’s father suggested “Evelyn.” Jonas used the opportunity to ask his father if he was in love with Evelyn’s mother. After giving a brief, evasive answer, his father left the classroom. He never returned to the course. Jonas continued attending alone, telling the instructor that his father had gone abroad for a family emergency. At the end of the course, the instructor gave Jonas his diploma but tore up his father’s.

While waiting for Hector to pick her up for their trip, Ina reflects on her apartment, which she bought as a symbol of stability. Hector arrives late in a rental silver convertible, a car so luxurious that it makes Ina anxious given her practical, budget-oriented worldview. During the drive, Ina is captivated by the car’s high-end features. As they get on the highway, Hector pushes a button, and the roof retracts.

In the summer of 1994, after Jonas’s father had disappeared, Jonas’s mother began experiencing mysterious physical symptoms, including migraines and stomach cramps. Doctors were unable to find any medical cause. Jonas and his brothers visited her during a weekend stay at the hospital. She appeared frail but tried to reassure them, giving them money for takeout and telling them not to worry their grandmother. She stressed that Jonas was old enough to manage things at home. The three brothers walked home in silence.

Ina and Hector drive to the west coast, their conversation flowing easily for hours. As they get closer to his family’s summer home, Hector becomes noticeably tense. After a brief stop to look at the sea, they drive up to the property and park in front of several houses. Hector’s mother is standing in a window, watching them as they park.

In the spring of 1995, after more than a year of absence, Jonas’s father returned unannounced. He claimed that he had been in Tunisia building a house with his wife’s savings, only to find that Jonas’s mother had sent a letter requesting a divorce. He begged her to take him back, but she refused. Before leaving the apartment, he cursed his sons, proclaiming that they would grow up to be failures without him.

Ina meets Hector’s family. His mother, Ingrid, greets Ina enthusiastically, and Ina meets Hector’s sister, Esmeralda; his uncle; and various other friends and children. Ingrid is talkative and overbearing, immediately taking Ina on a “grand tour” of the property, which includes several named houses. In contrast, Hector’s father, Enzo, barely speaks, only nodding at Ina before Ingrid directs her and Hector to the kitchen for food.

After Jonas’s father left, he broke back into the apartment and stole his wife’s jewelry. In the fall of 1995, Jonas and his younger brothers visited their father for the first time since the divorce at the grim temporary housing facility where he was staying. During the visit, their father said little, asking briefly about their mother and school. He described a neighbor who recently died in his room and whose body was discovered days later. Before his sons left, Jonas’s father promised to call and take them to the movies, but he never did. They wouldn’t see him again for five years.

Hector explains that his father was imprisoned and tortured in his home country. Ina finds life with Hector’s family overwhelming. Ingrid fills every moment with activity and conversation, which makes Ina’s own life feel messier by comparison. At a family dinner, Ingrid asks Ina about her family. To avoid revealing the truth about her sister’s recovery from drug addiction, Ina tells a white lie that Anastasia is a law student.

In the fall of 1996, Jonas tried to locate his father, who was no longer living in the housing facility, by calling an old business associate. This lead led nowhere, as Jonas learned that the associate had died. 

Jonas quit tennis and started playing basketball, a sport that helped distract him from his father’s absence. He felt ashamed of his middle-class Swedish background and tried to perform an exaggerated immigrant identity, reclaiming the racial slur svartskalle to define himself. One day, while playing basketball at a public court, he saw Ina and Anastasia, who were also playing. Jonas wanted to ask about Evelyn but instead learned that Anastasia played in a mixed-gender basketball team and that Ina would be going to school in the United States on an athletic scholarship.

During dinner with Hector’s family, Ina recounts a family story that her father had told them as children: that their great-grandfather was one of the workers in the famous photograph Lunch Atop a Skyscraper. The tale prompts the usually silent Enzo to speak, commenting that he had heard that two of the men in the photograph were Swedish. Ina also notices a brief look of disgust on Ingrid’s face. 

The next morning, sensing that Ina is emotionally exhausted, Hector suggests that they cut their vacation short. To avoid hurting Ingrid’s feelings, they say they’re leaving to visit Ina’s mother. During the drive, Hector encourages Ina to make the excuse a reality. Reluctantly, Ina calls her mother and arranges to meet for lunch. During the rest of the drive, Ina tries to prepare Hector for her mother’s eccentric personality, warning him not to mention the family curse.

In the fall of 1996, Jonas joined Anastasia’s basketball team, KFUM Söder. The team was terrible and lost every game. However, their coach, Terrance Branford, an American who claimed to have played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), inspired them to keep trying. 

After practices, Jonas and his teammates watched VHS tapes of NBA games that Ina sent from the US. At school, Anastasia was bullied by a group of boys who called her “the Crow.” One day, Jonas witnessed them chasing her from the schoolyard. She denied that they stole her backpack, even though Jonas could see one of the boys wearing it. They never discussed the incident again.

Ina and Hector meet Ina’s mother, Selima, for lunch. Ina is shocked to find her mother behaving like a completely normal, charming person. Her polite small talk with Hector easily wins him over. When Hector asks how Selima met Raimo, Ina’s father, she tells a lively story about Raimo’s music career before ending it abruptly and matter-of-factly: They met in a grocery store, he complimented her shoes, they had three daughters, and then he died. 

Frustrated, Ina confronts her mother about their unstable childhood and her frequent absences. For the first time, Selima candidly admits that she preferred longing for her children from a distance. When Ina brings up the family curse, Selima feigns ignorance and quickly changes the subject. As they part, Ina notices her mother’s worn-out shoes and the smell of sweat beneath her perfume.

In November 1996, KFUM Söder played a home game against a team that included Anastasia’s school bullies. The opposing players relentlessly taunted Anastasia. Fueled by their harassment, Anastasia played the best game of her life, scoring 23 points by halftime. With three minutes left, her team had a nine-point lead. One of the bullies then shouted a cruel claim about seeing Ina collecting recycling bottles at Kista Centrum. Enraged, Anastasia tackled and assaulted him. She was ejected from the game, and her team lost by three points. She was the only person in the locker room smiling.

On the long drive back to Stockholm, Ina is completely silent. Hector tries to engage her, remarking on how pleasant and fascinating he found her mother. Ina doesn’t respond, stunned and unsettled by the encounter. She realizes that the stable, “normal” mother she had always wished for had existed all along, but that version of Selima was reserved for strangers.

Jonas recalls that several years ago, he learned that his former coach Terrance Branford had only played one season in the NBA, averaging two points per game. Curious, Jonas now searches online and discovers that the truth is even less glamorous: Terrance was drafted multiple times but was never chosen to play; his entire NBA career amounts to a single game in which he scored zero points. Jonas remembers seeing Terrance one last time on a subway escalator; Terrance was wearing a yellow work vest, and neither man acknowledged the other.