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When I carried Lori Lansens' "The Girls" around with me, friends asked, more than once, whether I was reading a chicklit on what it means to be a girl or why I possess a book, which the titled suggested, could be for men to understand girls? It didn't stop me from carrying around the book, refusing to put it down even when the pressures of daily routine demanded that I give it a rest. I patiently explained my constant companion of the past weeks to my friends, as the story of two conjoined girls, which almost always inspired a bored look, as if they could imagine what it would be all about. Maybe I was also guilty of having had a faint feeling of doubt when I first picked it up, whether this would be just another predictable book. Call it anything else, but predictable it is not.

"The Girls" is the story of Rose and Ruby Darlen, the world's oldest surviving craniopagus twins, starting from the tornado that they believe brought them to this world, through their first kiss, preparing for their milestone thirtieth birthday, dealing with loss and independence, and eventually "the end, which takes you back to the beginning". "The Girls" is an undeniably delightful read, an absolute page turner, in which the author deftly lures the reader into Rose and Ruby's life. From the first page on, you feel part of the girls' life - You feel their emotion, you are part of their love and loss, and when the book is over, you almost definitely miss them. And it is not because they are craniopagus twins, it happens despite it. While their medical condition is an inseparable part of the book, I doubt it had anything to do with the amazing read that it turned out to be. Credit goes to the mastery over words and the innocence and honesty which you can almost feel radiating through the lines. What is also amazing is the way in which two voices have been skillfully and imaginatively intermingled, to reach a prefect balance - to present to the reader a story that is somehow one story and two stories at the same time.

At several points in the book, I would wonder what else could happen in this book. I felt that I would be happy just to have read this far, just to be reading their day to day events, without really having any events worth mentioning. Yet, things happen. The book has a story to tell and it is not merely a collection of events that happened to two unique people. Craniopagus or not, anyone can relate to this book - it is touching and heartrending, and tackles a range of emotions - from loss to love, from acceptance to anguish, from dread to desire. It is peppered with words of worldly wisdom presenting the reader with many "a-ha" moments, and portrays an amazing level of maturity, while managing to hold on to a childlike innocence.

As Ruby Darlen puts it, "there are not many things, when you come right down to it, that you will be happy to see the end of". And this book is definitely one that you don't want to see the end of.