26A

This meandering, sometimes directionless, novel walks a line between rich language and overdone verbiage when read aloud. Told from the point of view of tightly bound identical twins, the story veers into the surreal at times as the girls grow and realize their lives cannot stay seamlessly united. Adjoa Andoh's lovely timbre and deft reading are often lost to the author's sugary style, which probably plays better on the page than on the CD player. Instead of feeling cozy or richly hued, the descriptions come across as caricatures of British vernacular. While the narrator's voice is gorgeous and the text is fine, the combination falls short of the sum of its parts. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]