The Twins
The Richard & Judy Bestseller
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- €2.99
Publisher Description
The Richard and Judy Bestseller
'Outstandingly good. Part-thriller, part-love story, I guarantee you will not be able to put it down' Sun
They were identical in every way
Until the unthinkable tore them apart
Isolte and Viola are twins. Inseparable as children, they've grown into very different adults: Isolte, a successful features writer for a fashion magazine with a photographer boyfriend and a flat in London, and Viola, desperately unhappy and struggling with a lifelong eating disorder.
What happened all those years ago to set the twins on such different paths to adulthood? As both women start to unravel the escalating tragedies of a half-remembered summer, terrifying secrets from the past come rushing back - and threaten to overwhelm their adult lives...
'Convincing and compelling . . . building tension that resonates even after the novel ends' Stylist
'This book got its hooks into us and wouldn't let go. Hypnotic, with real emotional punch' Star
'Gripping' Marie Claire
'Stunning in its insight and beautifully written' Judy Finnigan
'Touching and extremely readable' Sunday Mirror
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sarginson's promising, if uneven, debut novel explores the deep, sometimes perilous bond between twins. Viola wastes away in a hospital bed due to an eating disorder. Her twin, Isolte, works hard to succeed in the magazine world. Both are haunted by their childhood, overseen by an unconventional mother who took them from a Welsh commune to the forests of Suffolk, England. There, they befriended another set of twins, John and Michael, sharing a secret that destroyed the girls' mother and went on to consume all their lives. The emotional geography of the forests is magical, evoking a dark, fairy-tale feel. The twins are competitive and clamor for attention, while simultaneously demanding closeness and separation; their relationship is beautifully done, but Sarginson's use of the present tense (possible evidence of her background as a script editor) is wildly distracting. Viola's anorexia goes underexplored, and the repeated acts of animal cruelty depicted in the novel leave a bitter aftertaste, as does the portrayal of the twins' mother as yet another unconventional woman punished in literature for nonconformity. The novel stops at a turning point, leaving the reader to wonder if a sequel is in the works, or if the author is trying to show that life is inconclusive.
