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For many, the idea of being one of identical twins--and possibly the
possessor of telepathic communicative powers--sends chills up the spine.
Add certifiable schizophrenia to the potent emotional state of identical
twinship, and the potential for nightmare magnifies.
In their
disturbingly powerful memoir, however, the Spiro sisters reveal all this
as the stuff of their everyday reality. Explosive encounters with one
another, other family members, friends, and medical professionals are
recounted with jarring straightforwardness.
Alternating
recollections about being half of a pair of youngsters growing up in the
1960s highlight the sisters' individual personalities while they relate
sisterly connections, competitiveness, and co-option. When Pamela's
illness emerged at the beginning of adolescence and subsequently spiraled
out of her control, it became a virtual separate entity that taxed the
limits of the sisters' relationship and continues to test their endurance.
This memoir probably afforded its authors great therapeutic value, but
readers struggling with schizophrenic family members may find it too
graphic. |
