I borrowed this ebook from the OPL, after reading a glowing review of it on Stuck in a Book.
Twenty-four year old identical twins, Judith and Cassandra Edwards, arrive at their retired alcoholic philosopher father’s ranch home (shared with their maternal grandmother) in the Sierra Nevada foothills to attend Judith’s wedding. This is after being apart for nine months for the first time, Judith at Juilliard in New York, and Cassandra in Berkley California. They then discover that they have bought the same dress for the wedding. For reasons that will be understood only by modern western female readers, this apparently is an absolute disaster, leading to confusing feelings, endless introspective, disconnected musings, guilt, self-doubt, alienation, conflicts, and even violence.
There are few characters, no foul language or sex (but with subtle hints of lesbian longing), and abundant symbolism and allusions to classical literature, philosophy, and music. The overriding theme is one of the ever-present philosophical difficulties of balancing one’s individualism with communalism. The writing is lyrical, almost poetic, with one section narrated by the bride-to-be, bracketed by two sections narrated by her single identical twin, Cassandra. There are a few surprising twists in a rather simple plot that is easy to follow.
The confusing 12 page Afterword by Deborah Eisenberg dwells on what it means to be a complete individual vs part of a nuclear or human family, and the unique challenges of identical twins. But it also makes generalizations about the characters that were totally lost on me.
A quite enjoyable period piece. I am sure that women will enjoy it much more than most men.
The Passionate Reader 