Brigit Dawson
Ms. D’Amico
ENG 3U1
December 4, 2012
The Girls by Lori Lansen
Meet Rose and Ruby: sisters, best friends, confidantes, and conjoined twins. Since their birth, Rose and Ruby Darlen have been known simply as "the girls." They make friends, fall in love, have jobs, love their parents, and follow their dreams. But the Darlen’s are special. Now nearing their 30th birthday, they are history's oldest craniopagus twins, joined at the head by a spot the size of a bread plate. When Rose, the bookish sister, sets out to write her autobiography, it inevitably becomes the story of her short but extraordinary life with Ruby, the beautiful one. From their awkward first steps; Ruby's arm curled around Rose's neck, her foreshortened legs wrapped around Rose's hips; to the friendships they gradually build for themselves in the small town of Leaford, this is the profoundly affecting chronicle of an incomparable life journey. As Rose and Ruby's story builds to an unforgettable conclusion, Lansen aims at the heart of human experience - the hardship of loss and struggles for independence, and the fundamental joy of simply living a life. This is a breath taking novel, one that no reader will soon forget, a heartrending story of love between sisters.
Part 1: Character
a) Rose and Ruby Darlen are the main characters in this novel who are conjoined together. The girls share a major blood vein making it impossible to separate them into physical individuals. In order for them to survive they must work as a team through all of life’s obstacles that no normal human being has to struggle through. Rose is the only mobile one; Ruby needing to be set on her sister’s hip, relying on her to carry her like a child throughout their life together. Rose, the poetic twin, is both academic and loves sports. Permanent physical attachment to her pragmatic sister thwarts her chances of ever reaching university. Ruby is the ravishingly pretty, club-footed twin, who did not excel at...