Double Stitch [Hardcover]

John Rolfe Gardiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2003

By the award-winning author of Somewhere in France , a historical novel based on a true story of orphaned identical twins born to switched identities, uncanny communications, and terrible trials. Identical twins Rebecca and Linda Carey arrive at Drayton Orphanage in 1926, aged ten. Copper-skinned and blond, beautiful but diffident, their perfectly matched faces, manners, and voices make them indistinguishable. Drayton is an institution of stone cottages and archaic values (chiseled into one wall is the phrase "A Woman Should Please, That Is Her Happiness") that to them is nothing more than a fantasy land with no bearing on their eventual future. They plan on getting as far away "as a dollar will send a post card. "The world that awaits them on their release, however, proves infinitely more complex--and dangerous--than any of their imaginings. Rebecca heads for China, only to discover her intended guardian has less than noble intentions, while Linda endures a tramp's journey across the United States to California, only to find herself captive to a fanatic's vision. Separated at opposite ends of the world, the twins' shared willfulness and navet has led them to similar straits. As World War II approaches, they face a final struggle to see whether either can survive the fate of the double in this mysterious and compellingly readable novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gardiner's subtly powerful writing deserves a wider audience, but his latest book fails to live up to his earlier achievements. While In the Heart of the Whole World and the well-received Somewhere in France were crisply written explorations of characters haunted by their obsessions, his fifth novel, about mixed-race twins growing up in an orphanage in the 1920s and '30s, has fewer flashes of grace. At age 10, Rebecca and Linda arrive at the Drayton Orphanage outside Philadelphia. With their odd beauty (faintly olive skin, hair "blond as a corn tassel") and troubling bond ("Sometimes I can't remember which one of us is me," one says), they quickly cast a spell over orphanage director Eula Keiland. The twins also attract the attention of Otto Rank (real-life psychoanalyst, a disciple and later critic of Freud), one of the novel's several historical figures. Otto believes that everyone has an internalized double, but in the twins' case, "nature has provided the double" and there is "no need for the subconscious to produce another." He's also certain that the twins will destroy each other, as the mythical Greek twins Lezzor and Tripto did. The twins' race plays a crucial role, and all of these elements promise something spellbinding. But while sometimes effective, the novel disappoints. The twins endure two separate, harrowing journeys (one to California, the other to China), but Gardiner relates these events flatly, and the idea of the "double" is tirelessly debated-by Eula, Otto and their associates-giving the metaphor-heavy novel a static, leaden feel.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

It's 1926 and Eula Kieland, director of the well-funded Drayton Orphanage just outside Philadelphia, prides herself on her progressive values. Her newest charges are 10-year-old identical twins, Linda and Rebecca, who are strikingly beautiful, secretive, and inseparable. Their possibly unhealthy intimacy is a challenge for Eula and her staff, but the fact that they're part African American is potentially catastrophic. Eula does her best to protect them, but once they come of age, their biracial heritage becomes the catalyst for violent conflicts and life-threatening adventures. Gardiner, author most recently of Somewhere in France (1999), writes intellectually intricate historical novels, basing his latest on an actual institution and such real-life figures as psychologist Otto Rank and his notorious acolyte, Anais Nin. Gardiner's riffs on doubling, the parameters of the self, and the emancipation of women are intriguing, and the settings he conjures, from a San Francisco brothel to prerevolutionary China, are compelling. But his style is often passive, and the sexy twins' dire predicaments verge on the melodramatic. Nonetheless, this is an unusual and provocative saga. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint; X edition (October 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582432317
• ISBN-13: 978-1582432311
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,761,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A note to the editor of this site, November 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Double Stitch (Hardcover)

The Philadelphia Enquirer's Sunday book section gives "Double Stitch" prime position as "Ediitor's Choice" with a uniformly positive review; Francine Prose in O Magazine says "at once mysterious and plausible," in another favorable review; "Curled Up" gives Double Stitch a glowing review and calls it "riveting."
Karen Joy Fowler's review says "I loved this book for its smartness and the sheer adventure of it. It's wonderful." The one negative review to date,the Publisher's Weekly is the one that leads your site's mention of this book. In fairness, I think you ought to lead with the prevailing opinions.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Double Stitch Doubly Fascinating, December 2, 2003

By 

Laurene Maxwell (Englewood, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Double Stitch (Hardcover)

I received the book as a gift and enjoyed it greatly. The personalities of the twins and the orphanage director were quite compelling. The book has three parts - the twins arrival at the orphanage, their departure, and their return. I especially enjoyed their departure. I sat up late into the night, unable to go to bed until I found out what would happen to Becca. This part put me in mind of some of the novels by Isabel Allende. I was a bit confused by the role of Anis Nin, and felt that Eula's sexual preferences were left somewhat unresolved. I felt that the details of depression-era America seemed quite accurate.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book of Many Layers, November 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Double Stitch (Hardcover)

This book started out slowly from the view of an observer or analyst of every characters' behavior and motivations. Later on you become absorbed in the twins' separate but parallel journeys out into the world. The identical twins may not only pass as each other but pass as whites when necessary for their survival. The historical backdrop is crucial not only to the story of the twins' racial identities but also a contemplation of the shifting role of women. The mentally connected twins are able to live with the multiple identities that normally struggle to exist within one person. Other characters in the book wrestle with how to suppress or express their conflicting emotions and sexuality every day. The issue of the part of self that a woman surrenders when she marries is examined. The sisterhood of women and the complexities of those relationships are also explored. The book is something I revisit in my mind to try to sift through the many issues that are intertwined throughout the novel.