Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace

The story of June and Jennifer Gibbons is a strange one. They were twin sisters, born to parents from Barbados, raised in Britain (Wales to be exact) and never, ever spoke. That is, except to each other. Until age 18, they spent all their time in their room, typing out novels, never leaving at all. At their sister’s wedding they blighted the occasion by standing rigid the entire time, as seen in the photos. Yet their writings reveal that they were both very intelligent. When they were arrested for arson, and confined to a mental hospital, everyone was dying to know. Why didn’t they talk? What was wrong with them? What was the origin of their symbiosis.

A little on their background; their father was in the Royal Air Force, and according to this book, he was incredibly stiff and stoic. He made a point of never having any emotional connection to his wife or kids, no family dinners, no birthdays celebrated. He made it clear that his duty was to provide, and that was it. The author claims that this was typical West Indian behavior, so that might explain it. As for the twins, they probably had typical “twin-talk” between them, and twins often have speech delay. West Indians may expect weird behavior from twins, so perhaps this caused further delay. But their extreme isolation? Their symbiotic relationship? That’s not explained by twin sibling habits.

Years after this book was published, the surviving twin finally came forward and revealed the truth; it was racism that made them this way. They were the only black children in the region, and they were ostracized at school. Because of their father’s stiffness, they couldn’t talk to him about the problem. In addition, I suspect that the twins were autistic. It would’ve explained their self-isolation and speech problems. As for the racism, she says that her siblings are all married to white persons, and I have to wonder if her parents had some self-loathing. Did the father, with his important job, feel class-conscious? Did her regard his daughters as an embarrassment? Was he trying to become the ultimate Englishman? From what I read here, he was more rigid than the average English schoolmaster. If you’re a speech delayed kid, suffering under social isolation, having a parent like that doesn’t help.

Reading this book left me with more questions than answers. The author should interview the surviving twin and bring out a new addition, because it’s only fair to let the accused have her say.