The Twins

Twin sisters, Anna and Lotte, born in 1916 Cologne, are orphaned and separated at the age of 6. Anna was in good health whilst Lotte was suspected of having tuberculosis which killed their father. As a result Anna is sent to live on her grandfather's German farm whereas Lotte is parcelled off to live a less demanding life with an uncle in the Netherlands. Poor relationships between the extended family and the intervening war means that the two sisters loose touch with one another.

Now in their 70's, they meet by chance at the Belgian health resort of Spa. As the two sisters spend more and more time together they begin to relate their very differing experiences of the war. Anna married a, if reluctant one, SS officer whilst Lotte's family show more hid Jews so as to prevent them being deported. They tell their stories using a series of flashbacks and the contrasts between their lives soon becomes very apparent. From her somewhat sheltered viewpoint Lotte is initially very sceptical about Anna's accounts of the war but she is gradually forced to confront the realities of the sufferings of the ordinary Germans during the war leading her to wonder what would have happened if the twins' roles had been reversed?

In many respects the central theme of this novel, Nazism and the resistance to it, is not a particularly novel one as it has been visited on numerous occasions. However, I found this a well written and engrossing read due mainly to the contrasts between the two sisters. Anna seems much more vibrant and raw in her approach to life always willing to challenge expectations whereas Lotte is much more sensitive and considered unwilling to abandon her preconceived ideas. However, what de Loo does extremely well is to avoid the pitfalls of stereotypes and leaving difficult ethical questions about the ordinary German citizens involvement in the war for the reader unresolved. I found this a very enjoyable read that deserves to be on the 1001 list. show less

Twins Anna and Lotte are orphaned at an early age and are sent to live with distant relatives, Anna in Germany and Lotte in Holland. They lose touch with each other, and only accidently reunite when as elderly woman they meet at a Belgian health resort.

Their life experiences have been vastly different. The bulk of the book focuses on their World War II experiences. Lotte was involved with and risked her life for the Dutch resistance, while Anna, purporting to hate the Nazis, married an SS officer.

As the sisters exchange stories, Lotte is distant and wary of Anna, the twin she adored as a child. Lotte believes that she would have acted differently in Anna's place. While this is a story of reconciliation and forgiveness, those don't come show more easily to Lotte.

This book is on the 1001 list, and is highly readable. I especially liked the portion of the book involving the girls' early lives together with their adoring parents. However, when the novel turns to the sisters' war experiences, inexplicably it becomes mundane and ordinary. This book did not say anything that dozens of other books have not said better and more vividly. The book is not a bad read, just not a great one. show less

READ IN DUTCH

Sommige boeken moet je gelezen hebben. En dan heb je ook nog een literatuurlijst die je moet vullen. Ik had de film al verschillende keren gezien (zowel thuis als op school) en daarom moest ik meteen aan dit boek denken. Bovendien had ik al veel positieve verhalen over De Tweeling van Tessa de Loo gelezen.

Twee vrouwen, die zussen blijken te zijn, ontmoeten zich voor het eerst in vijftig jaar weer in het Belgische kuuroord Spa. Toen ze klein waren zijn ze uitelkaar gehaald en Lotte kwam bij socialistische Nederlanders, Anna kwam terecht in een primitief boerendorpje. Dit allemaal aan het eind van de jaren 20 van de vorige eeuw. Zoals te verwachten valt, groeien zij totaal anders op, en beleven zij de tweede wereld oorlog show more helemaal anders. In Spa nu vertellen zij elkaar hun levensverhaal en de keuzes die zij maakten.

Het boek is inderdaad indrukwekkend, al waren er geen grote verrassingen, aangezien ik de film al gezien had. Het boek is beter dan de film in mijn ogen, al is het absoluut geen slechte verfilming. De schrijfstijl is mooi, alleen had het tempo van het verhaal voor mij af en toe iets hoger mogen liggen (waarschijnlijk omdat het meestal hoger ligt), maar dat was geen groot probleem verder. Het verhaal wordt goed uitgewerkt, en in mijn ogen is er genoeg ruimte voor het verhaal van de zussen. De verschillen worden goed neergelegd, en het is ook weer eens een kijkje in het leven van 'normale' Duitsers tijdens de WOII. Het klopt, dit zou een van die boeken moeten zijn die je gelezen moet hebben. show less

well known Dutch author's most popular [?] book translated to English. about twins separated during WWII one remaining in Germany the other growing up Dutch.
Slow paced at first but one gets adsorbed into the story.
Dutch woman's struggle to accept the more practical German's 'what is past is past'
interesting perspective from a personal standpoint of Dutch- German relationships during this period

Wow, what a book! This story got me hooked from the first page. At first it was one story, but very soon it became two, shedding light on both sides of the warriors in WWII.
One sister of the twins stays in Germany, the other half is brought to The Netherlands and raised there.

What I liked so much, is that life of the ordinary German / the ordinary Dutchman is narrated, giving the reader the opportunity to compare, learn and at times even almost feel those times.

The only thing that kept me from giving this book the highest score, is that the voices (Anna, Lotte and the narrator) are not alsways very clear, which made the book confusing to me from time to time.

A rather clumsy translation that drags at the beginning, but an interesting method of showing the point of views of two German sisters separated when young: one to remain in Catholic Germany and the other taken to Holland before WWII. The Dutch twin falls in love with a Jewish musician; the German twin marries a soldier. Lotte, the Dutch twin, cannot understand how the Germans could have fallen for Hitler or followed his evil orders. Anna tries to explain, if not rationalize, their actions. They meet long after the war, in neutral territory in Belgium by chance when they go to Spa for treatments for their arthritis.

Les Jumelles, best-seller de la Néerlandaise Tessa de Loo, est une saga historique bouleversante sur l'exploration du lien fraternel.

Dans les années 1990, deux sœurs jumelles que la vie a précocement séparées se retrouvent par hasard dans une station thermale. Parvenues au soir de leur existence, les deux vieilles dames vont essayer de renforcer le fil ténu qui les relie encore. Ensemble, elles vont revisiter leur passé.
Les destins d Anna et Lotte Bamberg basculent avec la mort de leurs parents, alors qu elles ne sont encore que des enfants. Anna doit aussitôt partir pour la ferme de son oncle, dans une région pauvre et conservatrice d Allemagne où elle travaille durement, tandis que Lotte, tuberculeuse, est envoyée à l show more étranger, en Hollande, chez de la famille éloignée, dans un milieu beaucoup plus favorisé et ouvert sur le monde. En dépit de la distance, malgré les années qui passent, les deux sœurs continuent de penser chaque jour l'une à l autre. Mais quand la Seconde Guerre mondiale éclate, l'Histoire se charge de placer les deux jeunes Allemandes dans des camps opposés, cristallisant des rancœurs que même le temps ne parviendra pas à apaiser...
Construit autour de flash-back qui permettent de suivre pas à pas le destin des deux héroïnes, et de la difficile confrontation des points de vue d Anna et Lotte cinquante ans plus tard sur des questions plus que jamais d actualité comme le devoir de mémoire, la responsabilité collective ou le libre arbitre individuel, Les Jumelles, après avoir rencontré un large succès à l'étranger, est enfin traduit en français. show less