Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10698 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

The Times
'This unusual novel is so satisfying...a graceful meditation on partnership identity and enduring love'

New Statesman
'An immensely readable novel, compelling and convincing. The Girls is an enchanting blend of the extraordinary and the everyday'

Book of the Month - Marie Claire
'Perfectly pitched...an utterly heart-warming tale, without any traces of mawkishness. Anyone with a sister will relate to this'

Customer Reviews

Better than it looks and sounds!
Don't be put off by the girly jacket design or the potentially squeamish subject matter - this is a wonderful story, really well told. It describes the small town rural setting brilliantly and draws you into the twins' lives - their own particular struggles as well as the more general heartaches of life - with great subtlety. The way Lansens gives each twin a distinctive voice really works and despite the diary format you also get a wonderful sense of their friends, family and community. There are twists and surprises along the way so the story keeps moving at a good pace and the ending is just brilliant. Overall a great read that really makes you think (and cry).

Possibly the best book I have ever read
I bought this book as it had been reviewed by Marie Claire magazine. It was possibly the best book I had ever read, it reignited my love for reading and I never wanted the book or the story of the Darlen twins to end and regularly stayed up till 2am to finish it. A brilliant read and well worth a purchase.

Enjoy xoxo

A story of family: hopes, lessons, imagination, growing up, acceptance and love
I did feel that there were some slow points, but the book drew me in the more I read and I found myself not wanting to put it down. I'd give it 4.5 stars.

Rose and Ruby by whom the 'autobiography/ies' are written, are sensitive, likable individuals with very different interests. Rose likes poetry, writing and baseball whilst Ruby enjoys the history of the Neutral Indians, archaeology and television. I really felt sorry to be leaving them (or were they leaving me?) at the end of the book.

The twins are brought up on a farm in Canada by their adoptive parents, Aunt Lovey (Lovonia) and Uncle Stash (Stanislaus) and through Rose and Ruby's writing we learn their stories.
Ruby is advised by Rose to write her memories down as if she's talking to a friend and as the reader I really felt like I was their friend. Never did I feel that being a conjoined twin is a chore for the girls, they take everything in their stride. We learn of their hopes and aspirations, their love of their family...and of their families love for them.

Undeniably there were times where they experience insensitivity and ignorance...oddly enough by people who should know better - hospital doctors and Father Pardo, the priest. But Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash are fiercely protective and although in the last instance "...their faith in the church was destroyed. Not so their faith in God." which just adds to the wisdom and sensitivity of the story.

Told with a wonderful dry sense of humour at times, this is a moving, inspirational and enjoyable story