Customer Reviews

The Silent Twins

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The author means well, but I think the girls might have been better served simply by reprinting relevant entries from the voluminous diaries, with a minimum of commentary. As other reviewers have pointed out, Wallace seems quite confused by the girls and her narrative lacks important details as a result.

June and Jennifer stayed in Broadmoor hospital until 1993, when they were to be remanded to a more appropriate facility. Originally, they had had an understanding that if one of them should die, the other must begin to speak normally and tell their story to the world. By the time of their release, they had come to believe that they not only needed to be physically separate, but that in order for one to live a normal life, the other would have to die.

In an Observer (Guardian Unlimited) article following the deaths of the Bijani sisters, July 13, 2003, Wallace reports having tea with the Gibbons girls just before their release, at which time Jennifer informed her that she had decided to die, leaving the way open for June. Ten days later, they left Broadmoor, and Jennifer promptly leaned on June's shoulder and went unconscious. She died at 6:30 that evening. The autopsy showed a virulent inflammation of the heart. The doctors were unable to identify the source. To this day, Jennifer's death is a mystery, and June lives in their old hometown, near their parents. She revealed their complete story in an issue of Harper's magazine in late '93, with a followup called "We Two Made One", reprinted in the New Yorker for 12-4-2000. The song "Tsunami" by the Manic Street Preachers is based on their story.

We should love to see "Pepsi-Cola Addict", "Discomania", "Taxi-Driver's Son" and especially "The Pugilist" published in America.

The story of the twinnies (as they are called in the book) is interesting on its own, which is the main saving grace of this tiresome work. The author doesn't hesitate to admit that the twins fascinated and confused her, and that fact shines through in her lack of style. The book jacket describes the twins' lives as being mired in arson, drugs, and sex, yet the only events that are dealt with great detail are the acts of arson. The reader is given no more detail about the twins once they reach the psychiatric hospital, where both girls believe they'll have the chance to communicate with others and maybe even begin a normal life. There's more hope in the twins' voices than there are from the author. The passages from their diaries are an alarming testament to their mental disease, but they are so lucid at times that the reader almost questions if the twins are the ones with the problems. Both girls realized they were their own worst enemies, but they were also one another's best friend. Their writings and diaries are highly accomplished, richly described pieces of writing. What a shame the author couldn't achieve the same.

I recently read this book, having started it several years ago and found that it so distrubed me that the lives these young women seemed to be so expendable, I could not finish reading their story. I recently picked up the book again and this time I finished it. I still feel that the world let June and Jennifer Gibbons down. I especially feel that their parents failed them. But placing blame is not helpful, is it?

I found Marjorie Wallace's research admirable, but not nearly as in-depth as it could have been, especially in delving into the family dynamics outside of the twins themselves. It is hard for me to believe, as a mother of four sons, two of whom are fraternal twins, that these girls were left to their own devices for so long or that they held the entire household in their grip. All with the seeming acquiecence of traditional West Indian parents and a military dad to boot!!??? Baffling! I think Wallace could have shed some needed light on their story if she had looked at this side of the family closer.

I was moved by some of the twins' journal entries, able to gain incredible intimacy into their minds, their world. I think we all are facinated by the secret lives and languages of twins, how they seem to have a bond that transends mere sibling connections. In other entries chosen by Wallace, I felt that she was guilty of one of the most freshman of journalistic flaws: inserting yourself and your opinions into your story. At times I felt she manipulated their words and pain to move her story along. I think this was a dis-service.

Both sisters, in my opinion were brilliant, creative, visual, and incredibly insightful observers of human behavior, strengths and weaknesses. But in the end, because society--starting with their own family's desire to 'fit in' with the white 'Proper British' world-- and ending ultimately with the failure of the English educational, mental health care and judicial systems to deal with these girls--sadly, it is painfully obvious that race played a role in the tragedy that was the Gibbons Twins' lives.

Wallace herself alludes to the failure and selective ignorance of authorities through the years and the overall treatment of the girls because they were 'coloured'. And these perceptive young women on numerous occasions recognized and manipulated others' prejudices in order to attempt to belong and ultimately to survive.

The book has some weaknesses, but those are easily forgotten as one lives the loneliness, desolation, isolation and despair right along with June and Jennifer Gibbons. I found myself silently screaming along with June and Jennifer that someone, anyone would save them from each other.

I truly think that these were wasted lives; lives that did not have to be lost to such pain, violence, abuse and neglect.

After I finished the book I was left with a haunting need to know what became of the two sisters. I did a Google search and I cried as I read that just hours after being released from Broadmoor, Jennifer had died. Just hours before her release and her death, joyfully accepted her fate by confiding in Wallace that "We have decided that I must die!". They had decided that one must die in order for the other to thrive. Indeed, Jennifer had pulled the short straw which meant that one of them had to choose death, in order for the other to live.
This was a distrubing book, but nevertheless a very good read!

Everyone who read this book wondered what was wrong with June and Jennifer Gibbons. Some said it was typical twin-symbiosis. Others figured the girls were schizophrenic. But after teaching Special Ed for a few years, I think I've figured out the problem.

June and Jennifer Gibbons were most likely Autistic or had Asperger's Syndrome. That would have made it difficult to communicate with people and understand the norms (very common among kids with Asperger's or ADHD). It's not unusual for twins to be late talkers, and twins often speak to each other in their own funny language. But the biggest problem they had was their family!

In all cultures, families deal with their children differently. They warn teachers nowadays to take the student's background into account when working on his/her skills, because the student's parents may have expectations you're not accustomed to. The parents of June and Jennifer Gibbons were from the West Indies, where (as stated in the book) people expect eccentric behavior from twins. But their father had no interest in his children. It wasn't unusual for West Indian men to be a bit stiff and stoic, but Aubrey Gibbons was unbelievably stiff. There was no "family dynamic" in the household. The father would come home from work, eat dinner by himself, and watch TV. It was his policy not to speak to his children. That kept these twins, who already had problems, from learning social skills.

The surviving twin, June, claims that race as the problem, and I believe her. Though not mentioned in the narrative, they were bullied by their classmates for being the only Black children in the school (and possibly in the whole of Wales at the time). They were always ostracized, and couldn't turn to their mother or father for support or guidance. Coupled with an inability to communicate, they had no one to turn to but each other.

One trait of Asperger's that these girls had was their assertiveness in writing. I have encountered many autistic people who cannot or will not assert themselves verbally, but are very assertive in what they write. The Gibbons twins spent hours in their rooms, writing novels with hilarious word choices. Some of their novels may in fact be in print today. But their talent was ignored. Their family had no interest in them whatsoever. Their siblings all turned out okay, however. June recounted how all her siblings were married to white people, so they couldn't all have suffered from racism the way June says they did.

Having Asperger's, along with an uninterested parent, was the biggest part of the problem.

Another question is how Jennifer Gibbons died. Some say she willed her own death, but I think her heart simply weakened from lethargy, caused by spending all those years on antipsychotic medications.

As the mother of identical twin daughters (and a fraternal twin myself), I had heard of the Gibbons twins before. Their story is both tragic and fascinating - truly, I could not put the book down. For the other reviews claiming the author is not as talented as the twins' writing, I would say that THEIR subjects are more flexible -- and FICTION! Considering the subject-matter I thought this book was well-written and thoughtfully put together. The author seems to care about the twins and tried to be honest about their struggles. The numerous excerpts of the twins' writings became very tiresome and I honestly skipped a lot of them.

I feel the same frustration with the twins' actions as others, including the author, and I think the girls' lives were a game they invented to fill the many dull hours in their lonesome bedroom. I think the parent's actions (or lack of) should have been explored more. The author seems to defend the parents at all costs, but the parents' inability to deal with the twins problems are the root of the tragedy and should have been addressed. Still, if you enjoy true-crime and psychological thrillers, you'll love this book.

This story was about twins (Jennifer & June Gibbons) and the story of their distorted lives together. By using actual pieces of the twins diaries, the author took you into the minds of these two girls and tries to explain what went wrong with their reality. The distortion of their every day lives is incredible , and one wonders how these two young ladies were unable to accept the reality of life, when most other twins develop normal. The possession that one twin has over the other is astonishing. I only wish there was some sort of follow up book to find out how the twins are coping in the 1990's.

This book is a biographical account of June and Jennifer Giboons, West Indian twins raised in Great Britain. Through most of their lives they were silent, able to communicate with each other and control each others' communication through non-verbal means. When they did talk, they were difficult to understand - their speech was speeded up and unclear. They were in special education classes in schools where they were victims of political struggles and ignorance. They did not interact with their family but stayed in their rooms and only came out when there was no one around. They wrote novels and journals, insightful of their love-hate relationship with one another.

During adolescence they engaged in a drug and sex orgy and committed arson for which they were arrested. They were they institutionalized in a psychiatric facility and the irony is that they were never understood, nor did they receive appropriate treatment. Their psychiatrists made only superficial attempts at knowing them and making a diagnosis. Questions were raised as to whether they were sociopaths and extremely manipulative or very ill young people. At the end of the 19th year, they were incarcerated with no release in sight.

Excerpts from their previous journals, written in a tiny hand in a scrawl, showed creative and brilliant insight. Now, they no longer wrote. They used to to colorful art work but they no longer did this either. They were medicated so that their thinking was unclear.

The book was rather daunting but mainly a report on an ineffectual and self-serving bureaucracy. Nevertheless, these twins would have been a complex and overwhelming puzzle even if they'd had the most caring experts interested in their care.

This is more of an update (the Kirkus review is beyond out of date, and any reference to the girls/young women as 'freaks' lends no credibility).

June and Jennifer were released from Broadmoor in 1993. Jennifer died within hours after the release (a strange, sacrficing, self-fulfilling prophesy). They had agreed -while at Broadmoor -that if one should die, the other should begin speaking and living among the rest of the world. Jennifer decided she would be the one to die.

June began to be more communicative; lived with her parents (granted interviews) until 2005, and now lives with her partner. (Wikipedia).

Saw movie version of Marjorie Wallace's book several years ago on A&E - so intrigued by the gothic horror enveloping the lives of these twins - as
children and in later adulthood. I then bought the book, twice. One tragedy followed another - Hilton Als in the New Yorker magazine wrote an article
about one of them- (the other had died on a bus after being released from England's Broadmoor prison) A gripping, unresolved tale of West Indian twins who bumbled thru their lives - communicating only with each other, writing novels and short stories in a small room- closeting themselves against family (downstairs) and the world outside. A must read. . .The Silent Twins

This book details the lives of a pair of identical twins who kept silent their entire childhood, never speaking to anyone, not even their parents. I think they may also have been schizophrenic, because I know lots of identical twins and most lead perfectly normal lives. But this book is fascinating.