54 pages • 1 hour read
Ashley PostonThe Seven Year Slip
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Apartment B4
Apartment B4 of the Monroe building is both a setting and a symbol that reflects many of the novel’s major themes while being tied to Clementine’s character growth. The apartment number is a pun on the word “before,” symbolizing its ability to transfer its inhabitants into the past. Not only does it physically transport Clementine to the past, but the beloved apartment of her Aunt Analea is filled with memories—so much so that she refuses to move in for the first few months after Analea’s death. Analea believed the apartment had a mind of its own, bringing together people from the past and future when they both needed it. In this way, Apartment B4 often acts as a character within the novel, and its choices influence Clementine and Iwan’s relationship. In the final lines of the novel, Clementine states:
Nothing stayed—or so I had always thought. Nothing stayed and nothing lingered. But I was wrong. Because there was an apartment in the Monroe on the Upper East Side that was full of magic, and it taught me how to say goodbye. And it was no longer mine [...] Because the things that mattered most never really left. The love stays. The love always stays, and so do we (280).
This poignant quote reflects everything the novel’s characters learn about The Acceptance of Change and Personal Growth in the apartment and highlights how B4 is a symbol of change, stagnancy, memories, and love. Clementine initially needs B4 to help her through her grieving process and the journey finding herself in a world without Analea. Once she has met these needs, she is able to move out and face the future, knowing her memories there are enough.
Lemon Pie
Throughout The Seven Year Slip, there are several variations on Iwan’s recipe for lemon pie. In the first chapter of the novel, Clementine, Drew, and Fiona order a “deconstructed lemon pie” that Drew calls “the chef’s specialty” (16). Though the friends make fun of the notion of a deconstructed pie, they nevertheless want to try it, and Clementine nearly drops it when she collides with Iwan. The fact that both characters’ favorite color is lemon yellow and that Iwan calls Clementine “Lemon” ties both characters to the symbol. In the past, Iwan compares the idea of the perfect meal to “A lemon pie that makes your teeth curl in delight” (69) and later says you can taste the “Love in a lemon pie” (99), a phrase he repeats in the article he writes.
Lemon pie is the first dish that Iwan and Clementine make together, and Iwan describes how it is his grandfather’s recipe and it never tastes the same twice. Later, Clementine berates Iwan for making the recipe fancy because she believes this change reflects Iwan’s loss of passion for cooking. He explains that the deconstructed lemon pie is made so “Every bite tastes a little different” (240). Iwan’s lemon pie is a symbol that reflects many of the novel’s major themes. Just as Iwan and Clementine both change and stay the same, so does the pie that tastes a little different every time. It also highlights Iwan’s passion for connecting with people through food, and it is something Clementine thinks of whenever she remembers the version of him she met in her apartment. The pie is described as being both sweet and bitter, reflecting the lessons Clementine and Iwan learn about life itself throughout the novel.
Watercolor Painting
Clementine became interested in watercolor painting during her travels with Analea, when she would paint in the Strauss & Adder travel guides for the places she visited. At the beginning of the novel, Clementine has lost her passion for painting, yet this recurring motif highlights the ways she grows and changes after her aunt’s death. After Analea’s suicide, Clementine often forgoes the things that made her happy yet remind her of her aunt, such as traveling and painting. Instead, she gravitates toward things that are stable, unlike watercolors.
When she rediscovers her old painting supplies, Clementine decides to paint to make herself happy. She describes this experience saying, “It felt nice to do something for me again. To just be. No to-do lists to keep pushing myself through, no expectations. Just me. And while I didn’t feel like the child who used to curl up in a claw-foot tub to paint, I did feel . . . safe” (88). Painting is one of the few things Clementine does in the novel purely for herself, and she only shows her painting to those she cares about most. Clementine frequently compares things and feelings to the way watercolor paint runs together, describing Apartment B4 as “a place between places that bled like watercolors” (257) when she tells Iwan about its magic. She describes watercolor as an art that is not quite precise and can’t always be planned out, much like her life at the end of the novel. However, as she does with painting, Clementine chooses not to make a solid plan for her life and to just do what makes her happy.
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By Ashley Poston
