The Girls: A Novel
by Lori Lansens
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lori LansensEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-10
ISBN: 0316066346
Number of pages: 346
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Reviews of The Girls: A Novel
Book Review: Beautifully magnificent and poignant story of conjoined twins
Summary: 5 Stars
Rose and Ruby Darlen were born in Leaford, Baldoon County during the worst tornado in history. Little four year old Larry Merkel and his blue bike were sucked up into the funnel, Larry never to be seen again and the bike found on a rooftop in town. Hundreds of migrant workers poured into the tiny hospital in various stages of injury, causing the single doctor, Dr. Ruttle Jr., to call in retired Dr. Ruttle Sr. to assist.
Their mother, a young woman, staggered into the hospital in labor, smoking cigarettes and moaning in pain. Signing the admission papers as Elizabeth Taylor from Hollywood CA, the young woman delivers conjoined twins who are immediately whisked away to a Children's Hospital in Toronto, along with head nurse Lovey Darlen. At the sight of the twins, Dr. Ruttle Sr. keels over from a heart attack and dies. Less than a week later, the young woman silently flees the hospital leaving behind her twins and no trace of who she was. Lovey is already in love with the babies, and adopts them. Rose and Ruby grow up with Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash (born Stanislaus Darlensky from Slovakia), their childhood spent at an old farm in the country near the Merkels who worked the farm for the Darlens.
As Rose and Ruby turn twenty-nine, and they are about to become the oldest living craniopagus twins, Rose decides to write her autobiography. She has to convince Ruby to co-operate. Rose has always been a writer and a lover of books, Ruby prefers television and is interested in the Neutral Indian artifacts they've found over the years in the farm's fields. With Rose working on her laptop and Ruby writing longhand on yellow tablets, the two girls tell their tale. You see, they've just discovered that Rose has an inoperable aneurysm, and they both have, at most, six or seven months to live.
This is one of the most emotionally moving and engaging books I've ever read. Lori Lansens truly captures the spirit of each girl, keeping them highly individual while accounting their inseparable lives. She mentions some books she studied in her Acknowledgements, and its evident she put the information to good use. You'll believe you are listening to the voice of a true conjoined twin. Rose does most of the writing, and to further emphasize the separate minds of the girls, the publishers chose to use different fonts for each girl's work on the novel.
It's a beautiful story; charming, witty, sad, funny, scary ... but most of all the story of a great love, one between both sisters and one between them and their parents. You'll fall in love with Rose and Ruby, and adore the characters of Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash. Many things have happened to the girls during their short lives, including a trip to Slovakia to meet Uncle Stash's family that is both funny and scary but anything but tender. Lansens work is nothing shy of expert. Her characterizations, her dialogue, her prose, her descriptions - all aspects of her writing show off her great talent.
I bought the book out of curiosity for conjoined twins - I've always had a thing for teratology. What I found was a real treasure. If this book doesn't move you then you have no heart at all. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Ten Stars! Enjoy!
Summary of The Girls: A Novel
Rarely has the experience of being a sister been so poignantly and memorably captured as in Lori Lansens's triumphant novel. The Girls celebrates life's fundamental joys and trials as it presents Rose and Ruby, sisters destined to live inseparably but blessed with distinct sensibilities that enrich and complicate their shared experiences-of growing up, of finding their way in the world, of saying good-bye.Readers who encounter the girls will find it hard to resist falling under their spell.Literary Books
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