A quirky and disturbingly comic first novel about identical twin sisters trying to make it to eighteen in affluent New Jersey, from an award–winning short story writer.

Told in alternating voices, Twins is the heartfelt and unsettlingly honest story of identical twin sisters on an epic journey to survive their difficult adolescence.

Sue, younger by four long minutes, idolizes the seemingly perfect Chloe. Although they look the same, Sue thinks of her twin as prettier, smarter, better. For this Sue torments herself, and in the process, with her caustic wit, she torments Chloe. The sisters' parents, divorce lawyers, trust the girls to grow up on their own; their older brother Daniel treats them with contempt; and Daisy, the family's standard poodle, needs more love and care than the girls can deliver.

On their thirteenth birthday, the sisters get tattoos to prove their love is stronger than DNA, but instead, they continue to grow apart. When Chloe befriends Lisa Markman, an aspiring model and the daughter of a famous basketball player, the careful, strained peace between the sisters erupts into a violent climax.

Over the course of five years, the twins survive heartbreak, unhappy Hawaiian vacations, parental neglect, eating disorders, pill abuse, and the first painful explorations of love and sex. As they try to keep their hold in the ever–confusing world they inhabit, both Chloe and Sue reach out to new mentors who help them understand the complex connection they have to the world, and to each other.

Surrounded by an eclectic cast of characters, including the selfish Japanese sculptor Yumiko, a young Indian writer named Smita, and former Knicks player Rodney Markman, the twin sisters attempt to overcome apathy and despair to redeem each other.

At times funny, bitter, and affecting, Twins introduces two new suburban heroines on the verge, and a talented new author to watch.

"Two teenagers struggle with identity and self-determination in Dermansky's entertaining debut.To the casual observer, twins Chloe and Sue are exactly the same — even their father mixes them up sometimes. Of course, Chloe understands that they're very different people, but Sue wants nothing more than to be one with Chloe, whom she's convinced is prettier, smarter and nicer. The chapters alternate between the voices of Sue and Chloe, moving quickly but seamlessly through their high school years with their attendant dramas and tragedies. It feels primarily like Sue's story, though, because it is her desire to hold on to her perfect intimacy with Chloe that sets the plot in motion. And it is Sue's voice — variously deadpan, yearning, and frequently repetitive to good effect — that carries most of the novel's emotional weight. (Though Chloe has her moments: 'I did everything for Sue. She needed me as if I were the oxygen she breathed, but she didn't understand what it cost me.') While some aspects of the tale seem unlikely (the twins' blithely neglectful parents and extremely generous friends, for example), this is balanced by an overarching fable-like quality to this moving and well-written story of two girls learning to accept who they are. Agent, Alex Glass. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Told in alternating voices, "Twins" is the heartfelt and unsettlingly honest story of identical twin sisters trying to make it to 18.

On the eve of their thirteenth birthday, identical twins Chloe and Sue agree to get matching tattoos to prove their bond is stronger than DNA. So begins Twins, Marcy Dermansky's comic and disturbingly honest debut novel, the extraordinary story of two blond, beautiful, and tormented twin sisters trying to survive adolescence — and each other.

Told in alternating voices, Twinsintroduces two new unforgettable heroines on the verge. The obsessively defiant Sue, four minutes younger, resents and idolizes her seemingly perfect twin, Chloe. All Chloe wants, however, is to please her sister and — only if Sue will allow it — find a friend of her own. Neglected by their wealthy parents and cynical older brother, burdened by a loving dog they can't properly care for, and bewildered by a complex social universe they somehow don't fit into, Chloe and Sue are left to fend for themselves.

Over the course of five years, Chloe and Sue overcome breakups, unhappy Hawaiian vacations, unicycle lessons, eating disorders, pill abuse, and their first painful explorations of love and sex. They desperately seek comfort in unusual places, choosing often inappropriate friends and lovers, including the daring Lisa Markman, an aspiring fashion model; her famous father, a professional basketball player; James, a good-natured slacker; and a young Indian writer named Smita. Navigating this hilarious and heartbreaking world, the girls must overcome apathy and despair to return to each other.

Funny, affecting, and told with raw understanding, Twinsbrings us into the wounded hearts of audacious teenagers, where the line between hatred and love is blurred and where everyone — including the family pet — is vulnerable to devotion. Marcy Dermansky's heart-stopping debut displays comedy and redemption in the face of suburban despair.

Marcy Dermansky is a MacDowell Fellow and the winner of the 2002 Smallmouth Press Andre Dubus Novella Award and the 1999 Story magazine's Carson McCullers short story prize. Her stories have been published in numerous literary journals, including McSweeney's, Alaska Quarterly Review, and Indiana Review. Dermansky is a film critic for About.com and lives in Astoria, New York.