Title: The Girls

Author: Lori Lansens

Copyright Date: 2006; Hardcover, 352 pages

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

ISBN: 0316069035

Brief Character List: Aunt Lovey, Uncle Stash, Rose and Ruby, Cathy and Sherman Merkel, Nick Todino,

Summary in my Words: This is Ruby and Rose Darlen’s story; at 29 they are the oldest surviving conjoined craniopagus twins. Joined at the side of their heads, they are known as “The Girls” in their small town of Leaford.

Abandoned at birth by an unwed mother, they are adopted by Aunt Lovey, a nurse working in the hospital on the day of their birth, which is also the same day as “the great tornado”. Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash (who is Slovak), in their 50′s and childless, raise them in a loving, unorthodox environment and strive for normalcy in their day-to-day lives.   Aunt Lovey is their advocate and encourages  their autonomy.

“Our thoughts are distinctly our own. Our selves have struggled fiercely to be unique, and in fact we’re more different than most identical twins.”

.

Rose prefers books and sports unlike Ruby, who likes television and is “girlie”.  They have different tastes in food and different sleep patterns. Ruby collects and unearths Indian artifacts with seemingly no effort, and is chronically carsick.  Rose wants to be a writer and sets out to write their life story. Which becomes an auto-biography primarily written by her, with sections written by her sister who felt it would not be a true auto-biography without her side.

What I Thought: I read this book for an adult book discussion.  If not for this reason, I would not have finished it.  I kept searching for a distinct plot line, or “the point” as I so (or not so) kindly put it.  We came to a sort of conclusion in our discussion group that “the point” was more about the process;  The distinctness of 2 so joined as one, the amount of  different types of love relationships these girls had, the normal in a condition so seemingly abnormal.  There were moments throughout that struck me emotionally, three that stand out for me are first and foremost, a most uncomfortable sexual encounter the girls have which leads to a pregnancy for Rose.  Second, the detailed and emotional death of Aunt Lovey and then so quickly followed by Uncle Stash.  The last for me was the moment towards the end when Ruby gazes upon her collection in the local museum when they are showing it to a fellow enthusiast.  It is only at that moment where she realizes what a large collection she has, and what kind of a legacy she will leave behind when they pass.

Other Books by Lori Lansens: Rush Home Road, The Wife’s Tale