Book of the Month...The Girls

The Girls by Lori Lansens
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The Girls is the story of two sisters, Rose and Ruby Darlen: their lives, their loves, their family and their friends. Rose and Ruby are 29-year-old conjoined twins – called craneopagus twins medically – because they are joined at the head. Born during a tornado to a shocked teenaged mother in the hospital at Leaford, Ontario, they are raised by the nurse who helped usher them into the world.

Rose says, if you take your hand, “press the base of your palm to the lobe of your right ear. Cover your ear and fan out your fingers” – that’s where Ruby’s head is. Joined to Ruby at the head, Rose's face is pulled to one side, but she has full use of her limbs. Ruby has a beautiful face, but her body is tiny and she is unable to walk. She rests her legs on her sister's hip, rather like a small child or a doll. In spite of their situation, the girls lead surprisingly separate lives. Rose is bookish and a baseball fan. Ruby is fond of trash TV and has a passion for local history.

Rose has always wanted to be a writer, and as the novel opens, she begins to pen her autobiography. Here is how she begins: "I have never looked into my sister's eyes. I have never bathed alone. I have never stood in the grass at night and raised my arms to a beguiling moon. I've never used an airplane bathroom. Or worn a hat. Or been kissed like that. I've never driven a car. Or slept through the night. Never a private talk. Or solo walk. I've never climbed a tree. Or faded into a crowd. 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.

This is a wonderfully written, beautifully told “fictional memoir” that is highly recommended. Meg

[Some of the above review was taken directly from BookLetters.