Customer Reviews

The Girls

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Like other readers, I, too, am having a hard time moving on from the novel.

Like Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones" and Audrey Niffenegger's "The Time Traveler's Wife", Lansens' "The Girls" owes its initial fame to a jaw-dropping concept, namely, a first person(s) fictional account of conjoined twin girls. Unlike those books, there is a fundamental joy brought forth from the sadness of the imagined situation. The two points of view, told in distinctively different voices and with different type settings, dance and weave with each other. Lansens, who has written for films and has an earlier novel, has a rich imagination coupled with a distinctive use of dialogue. But it is her gift for metaphor, and her voice that speaks of writing that causes the book to sit and simmer in your brain, ruining your concentration for those that come afterword....as Rose, the larger twin, the writer:

"Words leak from my brain. Seep out my ear. Burble from my crooked mouth. Splash on my shirt. Trickle into my keyboard. Pool on my warped parquet floor. At least they're not gushing from my heart.....I catch the words as they fall. My hands smell. And the place is a wreck. From all the spilled words."

Magnificent. The best book of 2005. Buy it, luxuriate in it.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but was floored by the beautiful writing, the prosaic metaphors, the sheer beauty of the entire story. . . not something you'd expect in regard to a tale of conjoined twins, fiction or not. It truly touched my soul and made me look at life through different eyes. I can only count on one hand the books that have affected me like this one.

When I read the last few pages yesterday, I was weeping. I didn't want the book to end. It wasn't a sad ending, I just didn't want the story to EVER end. I don't like giving book reports, but suffice it to say that this book will move into your heart and soul after you read it and will never completely leave you. A magnificent book, pure and simple. It deserves 10 stars and a Pulitzer Prize.

Rose and Ruby are the oldest surviving craniopagus twins, tied together by a vital vein in their heads. As their thirtieth birthdays approach, Rose sets out to write her memoir, asking Ruby to contribute chapters. As you read this mesmerizing life history, you'll have to stop to remind yourself that this is fiction, that you aren't reading a true tale of sisterhood and found families.

Rose writes, "So many things I've never done, but oh, how I've been loved. And, if such things were to be, I'd live a thousand lives as me, to be loved so exponentially." The sisters are blessings and curses to one another. When they were born, their unwed mother was so shocked by what appeared from her body that she fled the hospital, abandoning them in the care of their nurse, who raised them as her own. Doctors suggested that Ruby, the smaller, parasitic twin with clubfeet, be sacrificed for the health of Rose. When Aunt Lovey refused to do so, the family was forsaken by their church. Rose has carried Ruby around their entire life. If one consumes alcohol, the other feels its effects. Each has different dietary desires, but if one gets ill, the other will suffer the restrictions of being sick, too.

As adults, Rose and Ruby have made a life for themselves working at the town library. They each have separate jobs, but are co-located on one another's shifts. When Rose needs a mental health day, Ruby has to miss her shift, too. Ruby enjoys working with children and answering their questions about her lifestyle and medical history.

The memoir is created by Rose, who fancies herself the intellectually superior twin. She has to push Ruby (the prettier twin) to contribute chapters, and she constantly worries that Ruby is just rambling and repeating herself, not creating a narrative. Lansen presents each sister's chapters in different fonts, and their voices are distinctive. Certainly Rose is a superior memoirist in a traditional sense, but Ruby brings an essential perspective about their relationship and the anecdotes Rose considered unworthy of mention. Certain tales are told from both (contrasting) perspectives.

The Girls is a beautiful book about sisterhood, friendship, and family ties, set in a non-traditional family. Fans of this book will enjoy Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Lori Lansens must be a poet--Her words are lyrical and lovely-- and flow on the pages effortlessly. She makes the reader fall in love with Rose and Ruby; I know I did. And of course, Aunt Lovey!!! Unconditional love can save the world. Can't it?

I loved the chapter where Ruby experiences her first orgasm. Miss Lansen, How did you write this so beautifully--so eloquently?

I gave the book 3 stars because I was bored with the chapters about traveling to Uncle Stashes home in Europe (it did not add to the story or push it forward) I wanted more about Rose and Ruby---not Uncle Stash!

I wanted more insight about how people viewed these conjoined twins--they appeared to be accepted everywhere and by everyone--and this did not ring true to me. Most people would be fascinated, surprised, appalled, and terrified.

All in all--I liked this book and would read another by this articulate poet, Miss Lansens!

I finished "The Girls" a couple of days ago, and it continues to haunt me. I keep thinking of it and am having a hard time concentrating on a new book. I suppose I was attracted by the theme of conjoined twins and was curious to see how the author would present it. It's actually a positive story of two girls, conjoined at the head, who manage to carve out a productive and happy life, with the support of loving adoptive parents.

Perhaps the ending is a bit down, but Ms. Lansens handles it beautifully. I highly, highly recommend "The Girls."

I was lucky enough to get my hands on an early copy of this book. I opened it with no certainty that I planned on taking the time to read it. But the first sentences grabbed me, the early pages glided away, and by then, I was so entrenched in this world and entranced by the two main characters that there was no letting it go. This is a warm, open hearted gift of a novel. It demands to be read, and Lansens writes with such grace and clarity that it is easy to forget that this is fiction. I loved this novel, and I'm sure that I will return to it again.

Every now and then, in the span of your reading career, you'll come across a book that is a real gem. THE GIRLS is one such gem.

Written from the alternating viewpoints of Rose and Ruby, it takes a look at their lives as con-joined twins - being abandoned by their birth mother, growing up on a farm with their adoptive parents, carving out their own identity and struggling with their interdependence.

I loved the fact that the author manages to portray an intriguing and potentially sensationalist topic in a very sensitive and believable manner. The writing is restrained and beautiful, the characters alive and the plot engrossing. As an editorial review noted, you become so immersed in the story, you forget you are reading fiction!

The book also steers clear of being a typical pity party account of a rare "condition". Instead, it unfolds as a unique celebration - a celebration of sisterly bonds, dependence, compromise and the joys and pains of writing.

Soak it up slowly because you won't want it to end!

PS. If you have a hard time moving on from this book, I heartily recommend Diana Evan's beautifully written novel 26a: A Novel (P.S.)

In what has to be the best blend of heartbreaking sadness and unbelievable joy, author Lori Lansens has managed to write a novel about two girls that you will not soon forget -- if ever. After I finished THE GIRLS, I felt many emotions, but the strongest was that I had just read the story of two of my best and dearest friends. And even though I know that this story is fiction, I can't help but think that somewhere, two girls share a life that is a lot like that of Rose and Ruby Darlen.

Rose and Ruby are twins, yes, but they are also so much more. They are craniopagus twins, born conjoined at the right side of the head. As Rose puts it, she's never looked into her sister's eyes, she's never bathed alone, and she's never taken a solo walk. But what Rose lacks in aloneness is made up for with the closeness that she shares with Ruby, her sister, best friend, confidant, and greatest admirer.

The Darlen sisters were born in the small town of Leaford on the same day that a tornado struck the town and scooped up a young boy named Larry Merkel, who was never seen again. On the day that their mother, a young, frightened woman who called herself Elizabeth Taylor, gave birth, she was attended to by a devoted nurse known as Lovey. When the girls' mother later disappeared a week after that fateful day, much as Larry Merkel had been blown into the wind, it was Lovey Darlen who chose the girls as her own -- or, rather, they chose each other.

As Rose and Ruby struggle to learn to live together and yet retain their own individuality, it is their Aunt Lovey and Uncle Stash who provide the love, comfort, and stability that the girls need. Being a conjoined twin has both its benefits and detriments, as both girls learn from an early age. But with the love of their family and the help, support, and dedication of a wonderful cast of supporting characters, the Darlen girls make a name for themselves in Leaford.

THE GIRLS is written as an autobiography, started by Rose to tell the story of her life -- and, with it, the story of Ruby's life, as well. Interspersed with chapters written by Ruby herself, the story doesn't always unfold in chronological order. The things Rose deems important, of course, don't always coincide with what Ruby believes to be necessity.

I laughed while reading this novel, and many times I cried. I went through joy and sorrow, much as the characters did. This is the first story I've read in a very long time that moved me to feel what the characters felt, to feel, in the end, as if I knew them. I applaud Ms. Lansens for her wonderful writing skills, and, although I am sad to say goodbye to Rose and Ruby Darlen, I wish them the best that life has to offer.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

I absolutely loved Rush Home Road, Lori Lansens' first book so I was looking forward to her second novel. This one didn't quite grab me as well as Rush Home Road did, but it is a great book nonetheless. Lansens has done an excellent job of turning these unlikely characters into very believable human beings. It is quite amazing, really. Like Rush Home Road, this book is also extremely well written.

Most of the book is written from the perspective of one of the twins, Rose, while some chapters are narrated by her sister Ruby. The story follows their lives from birth through childhood an into early adulthood. Despite their different personalities and interests they are forced to share a life and the challenges that arise from their physical attachment.

One correction: the Publisher's Weekly summary above states that the book is set in a town "just outside" Toronto. It is actually set near Chatham, Ontario, which is about 3 hours west of Toronto, closer to Detroit, Michigan. I am from Chatham so I am familiar with most of the places in the book - all of which are real except for the fictional town of Leaford, where most of the story is set. It is quite amazing to read a good novel set in an area that is so familiar to me.

If you like strong characters and good writing then you should defintely read this book!

I can tell I'll be mourning the completion of this book for a long time. The sudden loss of intimacy with these two amazing girls has left me feeling bereft. You will find yourself lost in so many layers of experience reading this book - from the superficial but compelling day-to-day details of two lives lived joined together to the deeper questions of truth vs. point-of-view. You'll marvel at how an event can be intimately shared by two people but yet so differently experienced. The characters in the lives of Rose and Ruby are so richly drawn, you will hear their voices. I can't remember the last time I was complled to gush so completely about a novel. This absolutely belongs on any readers "must read" list.