2007 Bookmark

The Girls by Lori Lansens

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.    We’ve been called many things: freaks, horrors, monsters, devils, witches, retards, wonders, marvels. To most, we’re a curiosity. In small-town Leaford, where we live and work, we’re just ‘The Girls’.  by Lori Lansens

The Girls is written with two voices – each twin, Ruby (the pretty one, artistic and fashion conscious, but intellectually lazy) and Rose( frizzy haired, bookish and rather serious), writing in turn. Lori Lansens manages to create two distinct and colourful personalities, drawing the reader into the experience of living as a conjoined twin. Ruby and Rose each have their own jobs, their own interests and their own fantasies. The twins find their way into the hearts of most people they meet. Although this might appear unlikely, it seems that once people move beyond the extraordinary way the girls look, they are captivated by their courage and individuality. The girls have different friends, relationships and even a love affair. There are moments of profound sadness and moments where the reader might well envy the girls their deep and abiding love for one another. by Elaine Walker

Critical Praise

"The Girls skillfully tackles a tricky subject with both laugh-out-loud humor and grace."

—Redbook

"A complex consideration of identity and individuality, of sameness and difference, of what it means to be normal and what it takes to feel at home in the world."

—Francine Prose, People

"Lansens, who has a gentle, open way of writing, makes of these two girls a kind of perfect marriage, harmonious and everlasting."

—Stacey D'Erasmo, New York Times Book Review

"This is not a book about the grotesque but a book about love, about being bound to someone else and accepting the situation gracefully, even gratefully."

—Malena Watrous, San Francisco Chronicle