Customer Reviews

Double Stitch

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Linda and Rebecca Carey are twins, orphaned in the 1920's in Phily. They come to stay at the Drayton School under the guidance of its progressive-minded director, Eula Kieland. Although the twins are blonde, they have a coppery skin that makes people question their race. Over time, it is discovered that their grandmother was half black, causing problems with the school's "all-white/whites only" policy. Otto Rank (a shrink) corresponds with Eula about the girls and offers advice on raising them. When they come of age, Becca goes to China on an alleged fellowship, but is instead sold into service and raped. It takes her years to get back to Drayton. Linny runs away to California where she is sold into sex slavery, but escapes harm by claiming to be black. (This horrifies her captors). The girls eventually end-up living with their grandmother as Linny sews designer gowns to earn money.

Although this book presents an interesting perspective on race relations in the early 20th century, the sub-plots dealing with Anais Nin and Eula and Tessa's lesbianism were unnecessary and distracting. Many parts of the story suffered because of this detour from under-development while other parts seemed over-developed to the point where you questioned why this part was included in the story at all. Mediocre at best.

I really wanted to love this book. The idea of twin girls unaware that they are multi-racial and how each of them cope with the news could have been and should have been the story. Instead the author constantly involves us in a relationship between the director of the orphanage and her freudian therapist, and leaves the twins on the back burner for the entire story. Who cares?!! The three part journey of their arrival, departure, and return could have been an incredible story, but it just skimmed the surface of the twin's experiences - never really digging deeper into their experiences or emotions.