Twin Truths by Shelan Rodger

Jenny and Pippa are twins. 

Like many twins they often know what the other is thinking. They complete each other. When one of them disappears, the woman who is left behind must rebuild her life alone as she tries to find out what happened to her soul mate.

Her journey of discovery takes her to Argentina, Brazil, Greece and the UK. The truths she discovers about herself, her sister, their mother and their absent father are profound and deeply shocking ...

Twin Truths by Shelan Rodger is published by Cutting Edge Press in June 2014.

Truths. What is the truth? How do you know if the story you are being told is the truth? Maybe the person who is telling the story thinks it is the truth. Maybe they know that it isn't.

The reader meets Jenny, one of a pair of identical twins, in Argentina where she teaches English. Jenny tells many variations of the truth, depending on who she is talking to, and how much she wants to shock them. Jenny is in therapy, we are not sure why at first, and we certainly don't know if she is telling the truth. She soon ensures that her therapist becomes part of her life in a way that he never intended, but like most people around Jenny, he seems to fall for her stories.

Something bad happened to Jenny, something bad that involved her twin Pippa and when we meet Pippa, we hear her truth. Identical twins, but identical truths? Wait and see!

That's all I can say about the characters and the plot, any more and I'd tell too much.  Twin Truths is a complex, challenging and at times, difficult read. It is a story that examines relationships, devastation, loss and connections, it explores the bond between siblings and most importantly, between twins. That seemingly unbreakable connection that threads itself through everything that these women do.

Shelan Rodger is an author who conjures up evocative pictures with very few words, but each word is carefully chosen to form passages that are quite beautiful.

Twin Truths is a novel that will divide readers. It's difficult, yet satisfying.  A novel that sort of wraps itself around you and doesn't let go until the very last word.

A huge thanks to Hatty from Cutting Edge Press who sent my copy for review.

Shelan's life is a patchwork of different cultures. Born in Nigeria, she grew up among the Tiwi, an aboriginal community in Australia, and moved to England at the age of eleven.
After graduating in Modern Languages from Oxford, she travelled to Argentina, where she spent nine years teaching and setting up a language school. 
Another chapter in England was followed by six years in Kenya, where she got involved in learning and development, with an emphasis on anti-discrimination. 
She now lives in Spain, working in international education - and writing.
Follow her on Twitter @ShelanRodger