The death of a twin - a novel based on life

The death of a twin is a dark subject and this is a dark book.

26a is a tribute to the world of twins. "It's a very special, magical relationship and it's fascinating, even to me," Diana says. "Most people build armour to protect themselves from other people but when you're a twin, everything's stripped down. You know each other so intimately and you don't have that armour."

Diana drew upon the idiosyncrasies of her own twin-hood to create Bessie and Georgia, who enter the book as a vision of "two furry creatures with petrified eyes, staring into the oncoming headlights". She explains that when they were young she and her twin sister were timid, sharing an idea of themselves as two furry little beings. The image still fits: the adult Diana has something of the timid creature about her, with her wide, nervous-looking eyes, soft voice and inclination to pull her clothes self-protectively around her small, compact frame.

For Bessie and Georgia, the world turns out to be a pretty frightening place and for Georgia especially, the journey into adulthood is difficult. When the young Georgia watches her pet hamster, 'Ham', die she realises it is possible "to choose the time, to leave when you're ready", and we get our first glimpse of her dark final destination. It is Georgia, the shade to Bessie's light, who will later hang herself in what becomes an apparently inevitable act.

"I wanted to create a sense that there is a darkness in Georgia. The way she sees Ham's death is her own take on death from a very young age," Diana says, describing Georgia as one of those people who just didn't like it here, who finds life difficult, who can't fit themselves into society's frameworks.

 A dark book filled with love

This book is worth reading if only because it strongly suggests that Georgia is a womb twin survivor and they were once triplets......

What do you think of that idea?