The Girls by Lori Lansens
A Beautifully Rich Story of Conjoined Twins and Their Amazing Lives
This book introduces the reader to concepts outside of most people's experience. Is this what it might be like to be a parent of, or to live as, a conjoined twin?
I have never looked into my sister’s eyes.This is the opening line of a book that stays with you long after you have read the last page. It is the story of conjoined craniopagus twin girls which means they are joined at the head, and can only see one another’s faces by looking into a mirror.
The Girls is written with two voices – each twin, Ruby (the pretty one, artistic and fashion conscious, but intellectually lazy) and Rose( frizzy haired, bookish and rather serious), writing in turn. Lori Lansens manages to create two distinct and colourful personalities, drawing the reader into the experience of living as a conjoined twin. Ruby and Rose each have their own jobs, their own interests and their own fantasies.
The twins find their way into the hearts of most people they meet. Although this might appear unlikely, it seems that once people move beyond the extraordinary way the girls look, they are captivated by their courage and individuality. The girls have different friends, relationships and even a love affair. There are moments of profound sadness and moments where the reader might well envy the girls their deep and abiding love for one another.
The story begins with the girls at the age of 29 and travels seamlessly backwards and forwards in time, telling anecdotes of their lives, with an almost normal sense of the developmental phases of children, adolescents and finally young adults. They are brought up by Uncle Stash and the warm and wonderful Aunt Lovey who creates solutions that make most things fun, that might otherwise have been traumatic. Close your eyes, girls, because the sky sure looks like rain she would say. Then she would tip the green plastic watering can over their hair, rinsing the shampoo away with the warm water. Who wouldn’t have wanted a mother who made hair washing into a game?
Then there is the visit to the Slovak home village of Uncle Stash. Entrepreneurial cousin Jerzky arranges a midnight “adventure” in the freezing cold and muddy wastelands outside the village. Here the girls meet about two dozen women waiting in the moonlight. The women want to touch the place on the heads where the girls are joined. They believe it will bring them good luck. Jerzky has taken their money in exchange for this rare opportunity but has not counted on resistance from Ruby and Rose. This episode is hilarious, sad and heart-warming all at the same time. A testament to the brilliant writing of Lori Lansens.
The author, Lori Lansens, was a successful screen writer before she turned to creating novels. She has the knack of bringing her characters into technicolor life and weaving them into the reader's imagination.
