"There is an assumption that twins have a special relationship; a bond that goes far deeper than that of normal siblings. There is no doubt that twins hold a fascination for many novelists. The plot lines that identical twins offer lend themselves to the tragic as well as the comic. Twins can hate each other or love each other too much, get separated at birth, be unaware that they have a twin yet deep down feel that something is missing. They can swap places either for fun or for more sinister reasons!
The following list of books, which explores the complex relationship between twins, contains all these scenarios. From distant planets to Vienna and English country boarding schools - even the future - it would seem that the problems twins encounter are universal.
In teen fiction, where the twins are often reaching adolescence, a recurring theme is one of identity when one or both of the twins is seeking to assert their own individual personality.
This is certainly the case in Me, Myself, Milly. The story is narrated by Milly; a shy, self-conscious 14-year-old who wishes she could be outgoing and self-confident. It doesn't help that her identical twin sister is all those things and more. Milly knows the time has come for her to live her own life but it's not easy because Lily won't let go without a fight.
I can't help noticing that in the following list the most uncomplicated and well-adjusted twins appear in the books written pre 1950s..."
Penelope Bush is the author of Alice in Time and Diary of a Lottery Winner's Daughter. Her latest book, Me, Myself, Milly, explores the dynamic between two identical twin sisters.
1. Lottie and Lisa by Erich Kastner
Outgoing Lisa and shy Lottie are thrown together when they attend summer camp on Lake Bohren. It doesn't take them long to work out that they are identical twins who were separated at birth when their parents divorced. At the end of the summer they swap places and Lottie goes to live with her father, whom she's never met, and Lisa goes to meet her mother. Of course there are problems as the girls pretend to be each other and things come to a head when their father reveals his intention to remarry. Sound familiar? This is the original story on which the film Parent Trap was based. Set in Austria and Germany rather than England and America it is a charming book and one that I loved when I was 12.
2. Autumn Term by Antonia Forest
Nichola and Lawrie, the 12-year-old Marlow twins, are off to boarding school and Nichola has proudly packed her brand new 16-blade knife. Oh, how times have changed! The girls are determined to excel in all areas of school life and set about trying to distinguish themselves and live up to their older sisters' reputations. Naturally, nothing goes according to plan and the girls find themselves in all sorts of scrapes as they readjust their expectations and learn where their individual strengths really lie. This is a delightful journey into another era but still relevant, (apart from the knife). First published in 1948, the exploits of the Marlow family have been reprinted and repackaged and readers can follow the girls as they move up the school.
3. Linked by Imogen Howson
15-year-old Elissa has been haunted for years by pain and fear; emotions that don't seem to have anything to do with her or her otherwise untroubled life. This futuristic thriller is set in a world where twins don't exist, at least not legally, and when Elissa discovers that she was born a twin she sets out to find her sibling only to discover that her sister, or "spare" as the authorities have labelled her, has been living a very different existence. Can Elissa save her, against all the odds, or is her twin so damaged she is beyond help? Dubbed as The Bourne Identity meets Inception this YA thriller will appeal to older readers and fans of the Hunger Games and will be available in August.
4. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Although not strictly a YA novel this would appeal to the older teen. This is a complex tale involving a young and reluctant biographer, Margaret Lea, an old and enigmatic writer, Vida Winter, and the long departed members of the March family and their home, Angelfield House. Margaret is drawn into the tale by the mystery surrounding the March twins Emmeline and Adeline. Their wild, almost inhuman behaviour is at the heart of this story and resonates with Margaret, who has her own reasons for being fascinated by twins. But Vida Winter is dying and it's a race against time to unearth all the secrets she holds.
5. Twins by Marcy Dermansky
This intense and disturbing story charts the lives of twins Chloe and Sue from the age of 13 to 18. The two seemingly perfect looking girls go to extraordinary lengths to prove to themselves, each other and everyone that they are, in truth, far from perfect. They take twin obsession to new heights and the book is by turns both tragic and comic as they swing between love and hate for each other. An uncomfortable read to begin with I was glad I stuck with it to the end as the story became more compelling and the twins more likable as it progressed. Perhaps the most adolescent behaviour, and certainly the most disturbing, was provided by the girls' parents.
6. The Alchemyst (series) by Michael Scott
For twins Sophie and Josh Newman, "what had started out as just an ordinary Thursday afternoon had turned into something strange and terrible." Josh is working in a bookshop across the road from the coffee shop where Sophie works. What neither of them realise is that Nick Fleming, the owner of the bookshop, is really the immortal Nicholas Flamel. It has been his job, over the last seven centuries, to protect the Book of Abraham the Mage. Should the book fall into the wrong hands it will mean the end of humanity. When the evil Dr John Dee turns up at the shop to steal the book Josh and Sophie get drawn into the struggle, which is just as well as they are the only ones with the power to stop him. But time is running out as the twins try to come to terms with the idea that what they thought was myth is actually history and what they believed to be legend is really fact. This is the first book in the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.
7. The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
Sutton Mercer has the perfect life; she hangs out with the coolest girls and has the hottest boyfriend. There's just one problem – someone has just killed her. Death causes her to become "attached" to the twin sister she never knew she had but she is powerless to help and can only watch. Meanwhile, Emma Paxton, the long lost sister, realises she has an identical twin when she stumbles across an internet video of the killing. Emma thinks that by stepping into her dead sisters life, before anyone realises Sutton has gone, she can discover who the killer is. The storyline is intriguing with a sinister under-tone but be warned – this is compulsive reading and there's a whole series of books.
8. Bumped by Megan McCafferty
Set in a futuristic world where a virus has rendered everyone over the age of 18 infertile, this is the story of twins, ironically called Melody and Harmony. They live in a world where teenage pregnancy is big business and those with good looks and good grades can expect to be well rewarded for providing a baby to older, infertile couples. Whilst Melody is all for the idea of "pregging", her plans are disrupted by the appearance of an identical twin sister, Harmony, who has been brought up within a religious community. Harmony believes it is her duty to stop Melody from going through with the pregnancy. Naturally there is a boy involved but I shall say no more in fear of giving away the plot!
9. Tintin and The Castafiore Emerald by Herge
I'm allowed to slip this one in, or any Tintin book for that matter, because of the presence of the inimitable Thompson Twins. That is, if identical twins can be described as inimitable. The truth is that between the ages of 12 and 14 I didn't really feel like reading novels but I could never get enough of cartoon books. I would scour jumble sales and second hand book shops to find anything with stories told in pictures. We didn't have Manga in those days. So don't pooh-pooh the humble comic book, I still believe that the absorption of such things at a tender age furnished me with an appreciation of good stories, lively dialogue and humour.
10. Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson
This is more of a tween than a teen read, and definitely a classic. It tells the story of twin girls Ruby and Garnet and is narrated alternately by each. The voices are distinct and both girls tell of their separate hopes and fears; different viewpoints that often collide. Ruby's ambition to become a famous actress and star in a TV adaptation of The Twins at St. Clare's has an unforeseen outcome that changes Garnet's life.
