Product Description

Two elderly women, one Dutch and one German, meet by chance at the famous health resort of Spa. They recognize in the other their twin sister they believed to be lost. They begin to tell each other their life stories - the last chance to bridge a gulf of almost seventy years. In this monumental novel, Tessa de Loo compellingly weaves the story of two twin sisters separated in childhood with that of two countries opposed in war, and depicts, in a simple yet harrowing prose the effects of nature and nurture on the individual.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #125462 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
"'Completely original. A fiction whose poise, compassion and breadth take the reader's breath away' - Joan Smith, Sunday Times; 'This excellent novel spans the entire twentieth century. De Loo interleaves the twins' story with that of two countries locked in bloody conflict. A moving read about humanity's darkest hour' - Sebastian Shakespeare, Evening Standard; 'Details of time, place and atmosphere are acutely evoked, and the characters are presented with a generous sympathy that stops short of special pleading. Already a best-seller in the author's native Holland, the book deserves to become one here' - The Times"

Customer Reviews

A superb read!
This is a very enjoyable book, moving without being saccherine and dealing with the complex emotional and national issues surrounding war and family without being heavy-handed. De Loo's flash-backs to the appalling situation in the Netherlands during the German occupation of WWII are brilliantly written, and subtly nuanced by her accounts of the problems encountered by civilian Germans in the same period. A compellig read, once started, I couldn't put it down.

A compelling read.
If you ever read one book in your life this is a must. When I reached the end I wanted to re-read it over and over again.

The Twins tells a compelling story of Anna and Lotte twin sisters who following the death of their parents are separated at a very early age. Lotte is sent to stay with her relatives in the Netherlands to recuperate from tuberculosis and Anna stays with relatives in Germany.

The story begins with a chance meeting at the health resort of Spa. Both sisters are now in their 70's and have lost contact with each other and in the intervening years the Second World War has taken place. Thus evolves a tale of human suffering, spanning many decades, from both the german and dutch perspectives, which are contained in a number of haunting flashbacks. It's a beautifully written descriptive book that is not only thought provoking but inspirational. Tessa de loo's description of the hardships endured by not only the dutch but the german people in the Second World War will impinge forever on your memory. Have a box of tissues handy.

Insightfull, heartbreaking, and honest
This book is a must if you are interested in the what the Second World War did to the lives of ordinary people.
The book tells the personal story of two sisters born in Germany in the early 1902s, who are seperated when six years old. One is growing up in The Netherlands, having a relatively secured childhood, the other grows up in Germany, where she is used as a free help on a farm.

The movie made after the book has been praised all over the world for its unbiased way of showing that talking about right or wrong is easy after a war is over, but is not that black-and-white for the people enduring a war. This also resulted in the criticism that the story defends the German excuse 'Wir haben es nicht gewusst' (we didn't know). This is ungrounded, however. Tessa De Loo does show it is not only about whether or not people knew what was going on, but, more importantly, whether or not they believed it, and how they acted accordingly. (For example: many Jews in The Netherlands did not flee when the first rumours of concentration camps started, simply because they could not believe it was true. Why then, do we after the war suddenly say that the Germans should have known and done something?) De Loo shows that not all people can be heroes, that peple often prefer to turn a blind I in order to preserve the life they have builded for themselves. She shows how many people were sucked into a situation they felt they couldn't control.

I feel this book tries to make us realise people should be careful to judge the wrongs of others in a to black-and-white manner. This is not to say that these wrongs can be justified, but just to not overlook the human side, the duality that occures in most situations.