Customer Reviews

The Girls

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I finished this book only moments ago, had to wipe the tears from my eyes. Seldom has a book had such a huge impact on my life. Rose and Ruby's (the girls) mother makes the observation that in every ordinary life is an extraordinary story ... this book itself proves the opposite is also true. Two people who are vastly different are also entirely similar. The books goes 'behind the stares' to see who it is that we look at ... and who is looking back at us. I became a wheelchair user a couple years ago and was surprised how much I changed in the eyes of others, how I had moved to a different land, crossed a border. This book speaks to living in the land I now inhabit. It does so with wit and grace. I am utterly in awe of this accomplishment.

While initially skeptical of an able=bodied author delving into the world of conjoined twins (the potential for disaster was there), I came away from this book profoundly moved. Lansens has crafted a powerful, thoughtful, wickedly funny, and emotionally poignant novel about these two memorable characters.

The two women (Rose and Ruby) rarely stray into the 'inspirational cripple' model that's found so often in media images of disabled people. Instead, they come across as human - with faults, flaws and even farts!

More than that, they reveal desires, fears, and hopes that help make them fully-fleshed out characters rather than circus caricatures.

I recommend this book highly and without reservation. It was a pure delight to read.

This may be one of the best books I've ever read. It will make you laugh and make you cry. You will fall in love with these girls and not want their story to end.

Lyrical, poetic prose opens this heartwarming and unique story of conjoined twins Rose and Ruby and the lives they led, both separately as two individuals with different likes and dislikes and together as sisters who must rely on each other solely for their very existence. Joined at the head, `The Girls'--as they are known as in their small Ontario town--are raised by loving adoptive parents Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash, after their birth mother disappears shortly after giving birth. The conjoined twins are considered the pride of the town, not an oddity, and they rise above what most of us would think of as a handicap or disability and love each other unconditionally.

The Girls is a diary told in two voices--Rose's and Ruby's. Rose encourages her sister to contribute to what will become their life story and although she does most of the writing, both characters come to life as they observe the lives of everyone they meet, sharing their innermost thoughts, hopes, fears and dreams with the reader. I found myself so connected to Rose and Ruby that I didn't want their story to end, and when it did, I was left with a bittersweet ache for more.

The first paragraph reads like pure, sweet poetry that is sure to haunt any reader; it is what first grabbed me and pulled at my heart. The Girls opens like this:

"I have never looked into my sister's eyes. I have never bathed alone. I have never stood in the grass at night and raised my arms to a beguiling moon. I've never used an airplane bathroom. Or worn a hat. Or been kissed like that...So many things I've never done, but oh, how I've been loved. And, if such things were to be, I'd live a thousand lives as me, to be loved so exponentially."

Lori Lansens is an extraordinary Canadian author who paints a picture of rural Ontario farm life and two distinct lives with a magic wand of effortlessness, vividly colorful description and heartfelt compassion. At times you'll forget you're reading a novel because it reads with such clarity and believability. In fact, this novel is so full of realism, you may find yourself flipping to the author's photograph at the back of the book to see if she is a conjoined twin. Instead, you'll find her sitting alone at one end of a sofa, as if waiting for someone to join her.

The Girls is a MUST READ for anyone who enjoys an emotional tale of love, loss and the challenges of life. Other books of comparable emotional impact: The Lovely Bones and Mothering Mother: A Daughter's Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author of Whale Song

This is a beautifully written story about conjoined twins named Rose and Ruby. Abandoned by their mother at birth, they are adopted by a kindly couple, Lovey and Stash Darlen. Lovey was one of the nurses present at the hospital when they were born.

Conjoined at the head, Rose and Ruby have a symbiotic relationship. Yet, for all their symbiosis, they are two very different and unique individuals. When Rose, who has a penchant for writing, decides to write her memoir, Ruby decides to add her two cents and write some chapters herself. This book is the story of their lives.

Written as two parallel stories, the author makes the voice of each twin distinct. Each of their narratives is redolent of the personality and world view of the twin writing the chapter. This is difficult to do, and the author succeeds brilliantly. This is certainly a book that will keep the reader turning the pages, At times heartbreakingly poignant, the book is infused with humor and wit, as well as a strong reminder that life is what one makes of it. Bravo!

My response is similar to that of the reader who thought the book had potential BUT... After initial enthusiasm for the novel, I frankly became quite bored with it. Told in two voices (which aren't always particularly distinct--hence the use of two different fonts), the book has an initially inviting conversational tone. However, as everyone knows, transcripts of conversations can be rather dull and repetitive--and that's what the book often feels like: a transcript which needed a good "editing out" of extraneous detail. For example, I got really tired of one of the characters repeatedly saying "back to the story". (This is my point: there are so many digressions, that the story--whatever it is--sort of gets lost.) I felt the author did not give enough attention to the structure of the narrative. The story is "all over the place", and the narrative doesn't unfold in carefully thought-out way. Information is revealed in a random and haphazard manner. These factors made me completely lose interest halfway through. I pushed myself along, hoping things would improve. At two-thirds of the way, I just gave up. While I quite agree that this is an interesting topic--one that makes one ponder--the novel's clumsiness--its lack of artistry--was distracting to me. Hence, I was not able to enter Rose and Ruby's world. In the end, I was quite disappointed with The Girls. Obviously, lots of people are enthusiastic about Lansen's novel and I respect that and the author's obvious sincerity in bringing different lives to the page. If you, the reader, aren't irked by stylistic and structural weaknesses, the book may interest you.

I read The Girls by Lori Lansens a couple of months ago but, now that I can comment on it, I feel compelled to contribute to its publicity! The book presents the fictional autobiography of the world's 'oldest surviving craniopagus twins.' Rose and Ruby Darlen, born in the blacked-out aftermath of a tornado, are joined at the head; they share a common blood supply and can never be separated. Abandoned by their birth mother, they get adopted by a delighted nurse, Lovey Darlen and her husband Stash. As the twins' thirtieth birthday approaches, the bookish Rose decides to fulfill a fifteen-year-old promise and write her life story. She invites her 'somewhat lazy' sister Ruby to write a few chapters as well, though they agree not to read each others' work. The result is a captivating, tender story of identity, attachment, and love....plus, it comes from Canada!

I loved this book! So much that I had to pass it along to friends. The girls will engross you with their life story, though fiction, it feels real.
Lori Lansens is an inspiring story teller. She has a way of expressing women that many writers cannot. THIS IS A MUST READ!! I look forward to reading "Rush Home Road".

I was given a copy of this book; otherwise I probably would never have read it. But I'm SO glad I did! It was like reading an actual autobiography rather than a novel. I loved every minute of it and it left me wanting more.

Conjoined twins tell their life story just before dying. I initially resisted reading this book because it smacked of voyeurism at a freak show. I was wrong. The girls manage to achieve normalcy despite their extraordinary condition. They teach a lot about finding personal identity.