Twins
By Mary Jo
I’ve always been intrigued by twins, possibly because I had a pair of identical twin cousins several years older than I was. Since they were older and guys, I never did learn to tell them apart but the idea of twins was firmly planted in my mind. This may be why I’ve used twins in a number of my books. There are so many lovely ways that twins can be used in plotting!
I’ve done quite a bit of twin research, both reading books and talking to twins. When I spoke to a pair of twin romance writers, they made me promise NOT have a Good Twin and an Evil Twin. I promised that I wouldn’t because I had no desire to do that. Twins are far more interesting when I think of them as in some ways very similar, yet also they are their own different selves.
The first pair of twins I put in books were Dominic and Kyle Renbourne, in The Wild Child and The China Bride. It took two books because their relationship was complicated! Also, I’d read that male twins often went through a period of estrangement in their teens or early adulthood. (Female twins are apparently less likely to do this.)
Dominic and Kyle were close as boys, but they were sent to different schools and over time became estranged. Kyle was the older twin and heir to the title and the 
massive family inheritance. He wanted to keep Dominic close, but his brother realized that he’d have to create a life of his own so Dominic joined the army and fought at Waterloo.
To make it worse, each wanted what the other had without their being really conscious of that. Dominic had a passion for farming and the land and would have loved to inherit the family properties, but they all went to his older brother. Kyle had a powerful desire to travel and see the world, and he resented the fact that Dominic was wasting all that freedom to travel. By the end of The Wild Child, they’d sorted all that out and had rebuilt their bond. In The China Bride, Kyle has spent years exploring the world and is ready to return to England. Instead, he almost gets himself killed in China, as one does. <G>
My next set of twins were female and appeared in Dancing on the Wind. Kit and Kira Travers are twins and very close, Kira is a talented actress and dancer while quiet Kit writes rabble rousing political articles under a pseudonym. Then Kira is abducted, and the only way Kit might find her is to pretend to be her sister and take over her actress life. Which she does very capably since the sisters are more alike than they are different. There is a very strong psychic bond between the twins which helps in finding the missing Kira.
Interestingly, I interviewed a pair of twins who were younger sisters of a woman I knew professionally, and they have the kind of psychic bond that Kit and Kira have. Their stories were fascinating, and a lot of that shows up in Dancing on the Wind. (Though my resource twins had a lot less danger and drama, luckily for them!)
My next twins were Mariah and Sarah in Loving a Lost Lord and Sometimes a Rogue. Their parents split up when the girls were toddlers. Their father grabbed the nearest twin, who happened to be Mariah, and the twins were separated for years. Mariah didn’t consciously remember that she had a twin, but she had an imaginary sister called Sarah who was always right and proper. (The real Sarah isn’t. <G>)
Sarah, who was left with their mother, knew she had a twin, but it was more than twenty years until they were reunited–much to Mariah’s surprise! Sarah’s story is told in Sometimes a Rogue and it begins when kidnappers come to kidnap Mariah, who is by then a very pregnant duchess. Sarah hides her sister and pretends to be Mariah so the kidnappers carry her off to Ireland. Luckily the duke sends his friend Rob, a Bow Street Runner, off to retrieve Sarah–and romance happens. <G>
Kendra Douglas, the heroine of Once Dishonored, gave birth to fraternal twins. She was delighted by her healthy son. Since she almost died in childbirth, it wasn’t until years later that she remembered that there had also been a frail girl baby who wasn’t expected to live through the night. She goes in search of that lost child, hoping to find that she’d been baptized and buried in holy ground so that Kendra could honor and grieve for that lost girl. But the situation turns complicated….
I think those are all the twins I’ve written, but I’m not the only one who likes twin stories! Ally Carter wrote a rip roaring pair of books about twins, The Blonde Identity and then The Blonde Comes in from the Cold, about the other sister.
Do you enjoy twin stories? Have you read any others that you’d like to mention? Or if you’re a twin yourself, would you like to correct any of my errors? If so, please do!
Mary Jo, a singleton
I love twin stories and always wanted to have a twin myself, Mary Jo. It sounded like such fun but I think in real life it can also be a burden. A pair of twins I knew really resented the fact that they were always talked about as a pair – “the twins” – rather than as individuals. Because in general they often have very different personalities. But it is fascinating and I love having twins in my stories too!
Christina, you’re absolutely right–I should have included that in the blog but didn’t think to.
I always hoped to have twins. (I didn’t). My father-in-law had a twin sister & my mother had twin brother & sister. I had read they skip a generation so maybe it could happen. I don’t know if the twin sets in my family had any special bond. They never talked about it. Maybe it’s stronger in same sex twins.
Jeanne, you may be right that same sex twins would have a stronger bond. I don’t recall reading anything about that one way or the other.
Thanks for this enjoyable post, Mary Jo! I had fun reading several of your twin books a number of years ago.
The first twin story that I remember liking was the movie, The Parent Trap. I read the book it was based on many years later, Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kastner.
Kareni, I loved the Parent Trap movies, especially the second one! I didn’t know they were based on a book, but I’m not surprised you’ve read the book because you’ve read so much!
My husband is a twin and they’re identical. But in personality they are very different. They’ve always been close and always worked together or near each other over the years. They spent the last thirty years working together for themselves and retired two years ago. We don’t live far apart and see each other all the time.
I also have twin nieces, who are fraternal and very, very different to each other. They see each other a lot but not over frequently.
This is very interesting post!
Teresa, I’m glad you enjoyed the post since you clearly have more direct twin experience than most!
Being twins can be difficult. Back when I was teaching, I had identical twins in a class (high school English). When they introduced themselves, one said, “She’s the smart twin and I’m the dumb one.”
It wasn’t true, of course. Their IQs were pretty much identical. But the “smart” one was always neat and well groomed, and the “dumb” one generally looked as if she had just rolled out of bed. The “smart” one did B work and the “dumb” one did C work. They were determined to differentiate themselves.
It still bothers me that I couldn’t convince the “dumb” one that she wasn’t.
That would have bothered me, too, Lil. I hope that they found better ways to differentiate themselves moving forward.
Lil, it’s rather tragic that your twin students found such an unfortunate way to differentiate themselves. I hope they learned better as they matured.
I had forgotten you wrote so many twins into your stories. And not an evil one among them! Thanks for the reminder, I may need to do some rereads.
Karin, if you do some rereading, I hope you enjoy the stories even if they don’t have any Evil Twins! I’ve had fun exploring some of the story potentials of twinship.
I knew two sets of “identical” twins when I was in primary school. If you knew them, there was no way that they could stand in for each other. I also had twin great aunts who I could not tell apart and was pregnant with twins but lost one when I was four months along. It does not seem that he misses the other which blows all my twin myths apart!! I have absolutely enjoyed all your twin stories. I remember reading the Bobbsey twins when I was young and I still enjoy a good twin story.