Journal Entry 1 by boomda181 on Monday, March 24, 2008

Amazon.ca
In 29 years, Rose Darlen has never spent a moment apart from her twin sister, Ruby. She has never gone for a solitary walk or had a private conversation. Yet, in all that time, she has never once looked into Ruby's eyes. Joined at the head, "The Girls" (as they are known in their small Ontario town) are the world's oldest surviving craniopagus twins. In her astonishing second novel, Lori Lansens (author of Rush Home Road) ventures into the strange world of physical abnormality that Barbara Gowdy so chillingly explored in We So Seldom Look on Love. While some writers might be tempted to play up the grotesque aspects of life as a conjoined twin, Lansens treats her so-called freaks with sensitivity and respect. The result is an extraordinarily moving narrative about human connectedness that questions the very meaning of "normal."

The Girls is a fictional autobiography of the Darlen twins, mostly told by Rose but with occasional chapters by Ruby. The stronger and more frustrated of the two, Rose longs to become a published writer but tends to conceal or distort disturbing incidents from their shared past. Ruby, by contrast, tells it like it is, but is much more accepting of their intertwined fate. (Ruby is also the prettier twin, and one of the most poignant and shocking scenes in the novel is Rose's account of her--or rather their--first sexual experience.) As Rose and Ruby describe their relatively sheltered childhood, rocky adolescence, and tentative experiments with love, the interplay between these two distinct voices heightens the dramatic tension of what's to come. The saddest part is saying good-bye--to "The Girls" and to this compassionately written novel. 

Journal Entry 2 by boomda181 on Tuesday, April 14, 2009

This was an amazing point of view to read. I found myself drawn to this story because I have never encountered anything like the lives of Rose and Ruby. I realize that this is a fictional account of their lives, but I still appreciated the candidness of Rose and Ruby as they wrote their memories down. A very interesting read.

On Hold for flicki at Bookobsessed.com 

Journal Entry 3 by boomda181 at Book Obsessed Swap, A Book Swap! -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Released 2 yrs ago (1/5/2010 UTC) at Book Obsessed Swap, A Book Swap! -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

ON its way to Flicki...finally ;o) 

Journal Entry 4 by Flicki from Emden, Niedersachsen Germany on Monday, February 15, 2010

I have been waiting for this book forever (and it was exactly my fault, don't be mistaken! ;-)) and now it has finally arrived! I'm so excited! Thank you sooo much for your endless patience, boomda!