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Double Stitch
by: John Rolfe Gardiner

Used Price: $3.46
Third Party New Price: $5.53

Binding: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: September 30, 2003
Sales Rank: 2191572

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
By the award-winning author of Somewhere in France, a historical novel based on a true story of orphaned identical twins born to switched identities, uncanny communications, and terrible trials.

Identical twins Rebecca and Linda Carey arrive at Drayton Orphanage in 1926, aged ten. Copper-skinned and blond, beautiful but diffident, their perfectly matched faces, manners, and voices make them indistinguishable. Drayton is an institution of stone cottages and archaic values (chiseled into one wall is the phrase 'A Woman Should Please, That Is Her Happiness') that to them is nothing more than a fantasy land with no bearing on their eventual future. They plan on getting as far away 'as a dollar will send a post card.'

The world that awaits them on their release, however, proves infinitely more complex--and dangerous--than any of their imaginings. Rebecca heads for China, only to discover her intended guardian has less than noble intentions, while Linda endures a tramp's journey across the United States to California, only to find herself captive to a fanatic's vision. Separated at opposite ends of the world, the twins' shared willfulness and naïveté has led them to similar straits. As World War II approaches, they face a final struggle to see whether either can survive the fate of the double in this mysterious and compellingly readable novel.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Disappointed
I really wanted to love this book. The idea of twin girls unaware that they are multi-racial and how each of them cope with the news could have been and should have been the story. Instead the author constantly involves us in a relationship between the director of the orphanage and her freudian therapist, and leaves the twins on the back burner for the entire story. Who cares?!! The three part journey of their arrival, departure, and return could have been an incredible story, but it just skimmed the surface of the twin's experiences - never really digging deeper into their experiences or emotions.

Rating:

- Double Stitch Doubly Fascinating
I received the book as a gift and enjoyed it greatly. The personalities of the twins and the orphanage director were quite compelling. The book has three parts - the twins arrival at the orphanage, their departure, and their return. I especially enjoyed their departure. I sat up late into the night, unable to go to bed until I found out what would happen to Becca. This part put me in mind of some of the novels by Isabel Allende. I was a bit confused by the role of Anis Nin, and felt that Eula's sexual preferences were left somewhat unresolved. I felt that the details of depression-era America seemed quite accurate.

Rating:

- A Book of Many Layers
This book started out slowly from the view of an observer or analyst of every characters' behavior and motivations. Later on you become absorbed in the twins' separate but parallel journeys out into the world. The identical twins may not only pass as each other but pass as whites when necessary for their survival. The historical backdrop is crucial not only to the story of the twins' racial identities but also a contemplation of the shifting role of women. The mentally connected twins are able to live with the multiple identities that normally struggle to exist within one person. Other characters in the book wrestle with how to suppress or express their conflicting emotions and sexuality every day. The issue of the part of self that a woman surrenders when she marries is examined. The sisterhood of women and the complexities of those relationships are also explored. The book is something I revisit in my mind ... Read More

Rating:

- A note to the editor of this site
The Philadelphia Enquirer's Sunday book section gives "Double Stitch" prime position as "Ediitor's Choice" with a uniformly positive review; Francine Prose in O Magazine says "at once mysterious and plausible," in another favorable review; "Curled Up" gives Double Stitch a glowing review and calls it "riveting."
Karen Joy Fowler's review says "I loved this book for its smartness and the sheer adventure of it. It's wonderful." The one negative review to date,the Publisher's Weekly is the one that leads your site's mention of this book. In fairness, I think you ought to lead with the prevailing opinions.

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