![]() ![]() The novel has a flavor like the best Anne Tyler books, only a bit more emotional. The rural landscape is portrayed as vividly as in their uncle‘s photographs. All of the characters are fully drawn, even the secondary ones are sharp and quirky. The closeness, the bickering, the consideration, the shared experiences ring completely true. In fact, at times the reader forgets they are cojoined, because the fact that they are sisters rises above all else. Their personalities and voices are so distinct, that you have a solid realization of two separate people.Ī less skilled writer would have exploited the freakish aspects, but Lansens’ sensitive touch acknowledges the difficulties of their situation, but doesn’t focus on it. ![]() Ruby is the smaller, pretty twin, who deals with life in a flippant way. Rose is the stronger twin, dreamy and a bit more serious. The novel is fashioned as an memoir they are writing, mostly by Rose, but with some chapters by the caustic Ruby. It’s the story of Rose and Ruby, who are sisters cojoined at the head, living with their elderly Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash in a small town in Ontario, Canada. ![]() Yes, there was sadness, at times so intense that I wept, but there was also sarcasm, poetry and humor. ![]() It was a poignant story of a family so loving that I was envious. I was reluctant to read this novel of cojoined twins, fearing an exaggerated comedy in the Vonnegut vein, but thankfully it wasn’t. Lori Lansens’ second book is like a thistle, full of prickles with flashes of beauty, overlooked in favor of showier bestsellers. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |