Twins: A Novel [Paperback]

Marcy Dermansky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2006

On the eve of their thirteenth birthday, identical twins Chloe and Sue agree to get matching tattoos to prove their bond is stronger than DNA. So begins Twins, Marcy Dermansky’s funny and disturbingly honest debut novel, the extraordinary story of blonde, beautiful twin sisters trying to survive adolescence and each other.

Over the course of five years, Chloe and Sue overcome breakups, unhappy Hawaiian vacations, unicycle lessons, eating disorders, pill abuse, and their first painful explorations of love and sex. Told in alternating voices, Twins introduces two new unforgettable heroines on the verge, in a spellbinding tale of teen angst, obsession, and redemption in the suburbs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two teenagers struggle with identity and self-determination in Dermansky's entertaining debut.To the casual observer, twins Chloe and Sue are exactly the same—even their father mixes them up sometimes. Of course, Chloe understands that they're very different people, but Sue wants nothing more than to be one with Chloe, whom she's convinced is prettier, smarter and nicer. The chapters alternate between the voices of Sue and Chloe, moving quickly but seamlessly through their high school years with their attendant dramas and tragedies. It feels primarily like Sue's story, though, because it is her desire to hold on to her perfect intimacy with Chloe that sets the plot in motion. And it is Sue's voice—variously deadpan, yearning, and frequently repetitive to good effect—that carries most of the novel's emotional weight. (Though Chloe has her moments: "I did everything for Sue. She needed me as if I were the oxygen she breathed, but she didn't understand what it cost me.") While some aspects of the tale seem unlikely (the twins' blithely neglectful parents and extremely generous friends, for example), this is balanced by an overarching fable-like quality to this moving and well-written story of two girls learning to accept who they are.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

A beguiling story of the powerful ties between identical twins, Dermansky's lively debut also takes on bulimia, lesbian relationships, and the pressures of high-school academics and sports. In the alternating voices of Chloe, who is four minutes older, taller, smarter, and prettier, and Sue, who is always playing catch-up, Dermansky weaves the ever--changing story of the twins' lives from eighth grade through high school. Sue becomes obsessive about their "twinship" when they reach ninth grade, and as Chloe tries to distance herself, Sue shaves her head and falls into bulimia. Chloe becomes a basketball phenom and seems headed for a college scholarship until their divorce-lawyer parents decide they're tired of parenting, and consign the girls to the care of their older brother. Gradually the girls trade emotional places: Chloe becomes the free-spirited party girl while Sue feels proud of her normality. "I ate regular meals. I had regular periods. I never threw up." With the ability to blend humor with these sometimes sad and lonely lives, Dermansky has crafted a memorable novel. Deborah Donovan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (October 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060759798
• ISBN-13: 978-0060759797
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,042,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marcy Dermansky is the author of the BAD MARIE and TWINS.

BAD MARIE has been selected for the Barnes and Noble Fall 2010 Discover Great New Writers program. Booklist Magazine hailed the book as "a wickedly nihilistic and suspenseful tale of erotic mayhem."

TWINS was a NY Times Editors Choice Pick and a New York Public Library 2006 Selection of Books for the Teen Age.

Marcy is the recipient fellowships from the the MacDowell Colony and the Edward Albee Ranch. She is the winner of the 2002 Smallmouth Press Andre Dubus Novella Award and the 1999 Story Magazine Carson McCullers short story prize. Her stories have been published in numerous literary journals, including "McSweeneys," "The Alaska Quarterly Review," and "The Indiana Review," and included in the anthology "Love Stories: A Literary Companion to Tennis."

Marcy serves as a board member of the online literary community Fictionaut. She is a film critic for About.com and belongs to the New York Online Film Critics. She lives in Astoria, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing TWINS book, October 15, 2005

By 

Lake - See all my reviews

This review is from: Twins: A Novel (Hardcover)

Marcy Dermansky's debut novel - Twins - is an amazing piece of twin fiction. Although not a twin herself, Dermansky has managed to capture what many other authors don't even bother to try: A real understanding of the complex relationship between identical twins!

The story is fast paced, very original and occasionally disturbing while managing to be alternately funny and quite a tear-jerker. (I must admit to using up half a box of tissues crying by the end of the novel - which I read in one day).

As an identical twin myself, (and twin-owner of a popular internet site for twins called Twins Realm) I was very pleasantly surprised to find the two main characters (identical twins Chloe and Sue) portrayed with real depth and understanding.

Often fiction writers use twin characters only for the convenience of their storylines, while continuing to perpetuate the common stereotypes (like `good' and `evil' twins), but Dermansky's tale is a much more realistic, sympathetic, and in-depth look at the complexity of twin experiences; it offers unique insight into the struggles faced by identical twins with issues of identity and self-determination.

A thoroughly enjoyable (and informative) novel, for twins and non-twins alike - definitely worth a read!!!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Witty and touching, September 19, 2005

By 

K. Dye (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Twins: A Novel (Hardcover)

I typically have little patience with coming-of-age stories or the trevails of psychodramatic teenagers, but Twins slowly wore away at my cynicism as it drew me in.

You might want to shake these girls and tell them to get their act together, but Ms. Dermansky's voice is so witty and winning that you'll be anxiously rooting for them to find happiness in the end. And I have to confess, cynic that I am, I found myself with a lump in my throat by the final chapter. It probably won't lead me to seek out other novels about the trials of teenagers, but if I had to spend 300 pages with a couple of neurotic, troubled teenage girls, I'm glad it was *these* teenage girls, and I'm glad I had this author as my charming guide.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Double the fun..., September 20, 2005

By 

Q. (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Twins: A Novel (Hardcover)

Beautifully written--engaging and engrossing. I read it in one sitting, and although I neglected errands, work, and some sleep in the process, I considered it well worth it. Dermansky is a writer whose craft is apparent without being in-your-face, and a storyteller whose humor gently surprises you even as her tale takes you through a range of emotions.