I have never read a book like Lori
Larsens The Girls. The novel is about a lot of the things that all
novels are about: love, friendship, family, relationships. But The Girls is not any old novel, and the
narrators are not your usual could-be-anybodies. At the time that they are
writing their co-authored autobiography, Ruby and Rose Darlen are almost
thirty, sick, and working in a library (The
Girls is one of those books within a book…a fiction novel that reads like
an autobiography). They are also the world’s oldest surviving craniopagus
twins. That means that they are joined at the head, sharing a major vein. They
can never be separated, and because of the way they are connected, they have
never seen the other’s face except for in mirrors or photographs.
Rose is the academic, and the main
writer of the autobiography. She is sporty and bookish at the same time, with a
verbose yet poignant way of looking at the world. She weaves in her own story
with that of her sister’s, her Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash—her adoptive
parents.
Ruby is interested in history, and
a fan of TV. Although Rose often says that Ruby is the weaker of the two, Ruby
comes across strong in the chapters that she writes. Although she is clearly
not as “writerly” as her sister, her chapters add simplicity to the complex
narrative that Rose writes, breaking the novel up in a pleasant way.
There are stories of lost children,
pregnancies, crushes and loves, death. There are tales of magic and witches, of
superstition and fact. Of crows and family. Of growing up and being a child and
being different during all of that.
It took me a while to read The Girls. Rose’s chapters are very
thick feeling and take some time to get through, but I think the main reason
that I was so slow to finish the book was that I didn’t want it to end. This
book…I will never forget this book. It is everything I love about a novel—great
characters, good plotlines, fantastic language—with the added punch of being
about a topic like growing up as a conjoined twin. It is unique, without feeling gimicky. If the book was just about two sisters not joined at the head, it would be still stand up as a great novel.
I give author Lori Lansens major
credit for being able to write about being a craniopagus twin, when she
obviously isn’t, with such clarity. She doesn’t leave out details—questions
about love-relationships and being a conjoined twin were in my mind when I
started reading this novel, and they get addressed because one of the twins
conceives at one point in the story. She also doesn’t make the whole novel
about the twins. Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash’s relationship are woven
beautifully into the tale, and they become fascinating with all of their flaws
and perfections.
I can’t even express how much I
recommend this book—if you want to read a good, different, and beautifully
written novel, pick up The Girls.
