ANA Book Club?

[leapyrtwins]

Cindy -

I was shocked by the third sister twist   but once I knew about her a lot of things in the book started to make more sense to me.

It's interesting you'd say that you thought it was Adeline who had survived the fire, because I thought it was Emmeline.

I've thought of re-reading the book also, and just might do so one of these days.

Jan 

[Kaybo]

OK - this is what I think...

                Miss Winters is definitely the "mist girl" but took Adeline's identity because she didn't have one.  I think that Adeline perished in the fire       and "mist girl" was glad because she (the real A) was so mean and things were great with her(Mist)  & Emmeline when she wasn't around.  Emmeline obviously missed Adeline and felt the loss & that is what she was always digging for.  Adeline was buried under the rubble at the house in the fire.  When Emmeline saw Aurelius, it threw her over the edge b/c somehow she knew that was her child...

OK, what do you think about that??

K

[cindyj]

Yes, I agree that Miss Winters was the "mist girl" - so interesting when you think back to the references and clues about her.

Ok, how about this...remember when Miss Winters was first telling Margaret her story and she cried out in anguish, "Emmeline!"?  I think in her heart of hearts she knew Emmeline was the one who died in the fire - I think it just adds to the tragedy of the story that Miss Winters ended up taking care of the "bad" twin and not her beloved Emmeline...what do you think? 

Now, what was Emmeline/Adeline digging for that night when Margaret saw her?  I thought it was Emmeline looking for Aurelius...but, if I don't think that Emmeline survived, then that theory doesn't work.   So I agree that it could be one twin looking for the other twin...but which one?

[Kaybo]

Good Point about her crying out!  I think that whether it was E or A, they were still digging for the other...it was that twin connectedness thing...

K

[leapyrtwins]

I agree with K's first post.  I too think that Miss Winters was the girl in the mist and that Adeline, not Emmeline, died in the fire - although I'll be darned if I know why Margaret cried out in anguish for Emmeline.  Just to throw us off track? 

I think that Emmeline realized that Adeline had died in the fire and was therefore buried.  Since Emmeline wasn't "all there" I believe she was attempting to reach Adeline by digging in the ground for her.

[Kaybo]

OK - where is everyone else chiming in on this??       I couldn't wait to start discussing and thought that everyone else was the same too!! 

I was glad that my SIL told me about this book and that we decided to read it.  I was glad I could mention something that wasn't just "fluff" -- my SIL & I usually have VERY different genres that we read!!!  I was a little unsure about the fact that I had mentioned it after all the incest (OOOOWWW!) stuff!

K

[sgerrard]

Why would Vida Winters cry out Emmeline? Because that was the twin who she loved, and who was so damaged by the fire, losing both her face and her baby. Vida Winters didn't mind a bit that Adeline died in the fire; I'm not sure I would have either, given her nastiness.

Steve

[Kaybo]

Just an aside - do know my girlies names?  Addi and Emee - just thought that was kind of weird...   

K

[leapyrtwins]

Steve -

for some reason I knew you'd have a good answer for Margaret crying out "Emmeline" - and you certainly do.

From your post it sounds like you are pretty confident that Adeline was the one who perished in the fire.  Why is that?  Did you pick up something that we didn't? or is that just your feeling?  I think it was Adeline, but I don't have any concrete evidence to base my opinion on; just my gut reaction.

Jan

[sgerrard]

In that last post I sounded confident, I guess. But in the first post, I said I was puzzled by Margaret's phrase "referred to as Emmeline" during the very last part of the book. For some reason, the discovery of the bones seemed to have changed her tune. Up till then, it seemed to me that she thought of the other woman in the Winter house as Emmeline, and called her that without hesitation. To me, that resolution of who was who made sense, and I wasn't feeling puzzled by it until that "referred to as" phrase started cropping up.

I just re-read the part where Miss Winter is describing how she pulled someone out of the fire, and looked at her, and tried both names, and said "is it possible..." She meant to get Emmeline out, but in fact, she doesn't know who she pulled out. I don't think Vida herself ever knew which twin she saved. She just hoped it was Emmeline.

Oh my. 

Steve

[cindyj]

Yes, I think she had only hoped all those years that it was Emmeline that she saved.  As Steve points out, the passage where Miss Winters is trying to save Emmeline leaves us and her in doubt as to which one it is.  Of course we do so want it to be Emmeline, but I think I'm going to stick with my gut that it was Adeline that was saved   Or, is the whole tragedy the fact that Miss Winters never did know which one it was and yet she had to care for and love the person she pulled out of the fire regardless of who it was???  Or is that the point we've all been making...I'm confusing myself now.

The more I've thought about it today, the more I want to go back and reread it now rather than later.

[sgerrard]

Or, is the whole tragedy the fact that Miss Winters never did know which one it was and yet she had to care for and love the person she pulled out of the fire regardless of who it was???

That's what I think now, and that we can't ever say which one it was - no one in the story knew either. And I would not have got that without this discussion.

What do you all make of the subject of twins? There are two pairs going, Margaret and her deceased twin, and the Adeline/Emmeline duo. I have a cousin who has two sets of twins, and Jan has a pair. Are they always like this?

Steve

[MaryBKAriz]

Hi,

My 2 cents....I thought she saved Adeline. However, I do feel it could also mean to be ambiguous so we never know. I read this pre-ck and post ck and I don't know if I got the full benefit of the book and it's nuances. I do know as I read, I did go back to re-read. It was good to hear what happened to all the characters, but we are left wondering about the most integral ones. hmmmmmm

I do believe there are some kids that have serious issues. I never have had any one close to me that is a twin so I do not understand the draw when one twin is so horrible. I can understand Vida's stepping in to fill the void of the dead twin, what's her name. Vida is a half sis so she was an outsider in the 3 girls until the one is gone. Then she slips right into being fully accaepted as one of the twins.

Mary

[leapyrtwins]

I think it's a toss up as to which twin survived the fire.  While, as some mentioned, we are hoping it was Emmeline - and so was Miss Winters, I think - it very well might have been Adeline.  I think the author intentionally left us hanging. 

As for twins, I will be very interested to see how close mine are as their lives go on.  They entered this world totally inseparable - no they weren't conjoined twins  - but they were best friends and relied on each other for everything.  In preschool they were put into the same classroom but were soon separated because they were like one body with two heads.  They didn't socialize with others and when the teacher asked them to do something they would consult with each other and decide if they wanted to follow her request.  As they have grown older they argue more, but I recall doing the same with my siblings.  I think only time will tell whether they will regain their closeness.  I think they will because they have no other siblings, plus twins are generally close.  My brother has twins girls who are a year older than my children and they have followed a similar pattern of being close and then being not so close.

I don't recall from the book, but when Miss Winters picked Margaret to write her story, did she have any way of knowing that Margaret was once a twin    I'm thinking she didn't, but I find it a little hard to believe that employing Margaret was simply a coincidence.

Jan

[MaryBKAriz]

But it worked for the story