In the post-apocalyptic world of my novel The Fire Sermon, all humans are born as twins. However, the twins share a fatal bond: when one twin dies, so does the other.
Literature has long been fascinated by twins, whose uncanny appeal lies in the fact that they’re simultaneously alike and different. Older readers can look forward to the nuanced (and sometimes twisted) take on twins in Arundhati Roy’s God of Small Things, Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, and Ian McEwan’s Atonement, among others. But for the younger reader, here are 10 of the best twins to enjoy.
1. Sam and Eric, in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies
The twins in Golding’s classic can’t be told apart – not even by Piggy, the only boy who really tries. They’re so identical that the joint nickname that Jack gives them, “Samneric”, sticks. These twins have none of the heroism of Ralph or Piggy, or the charismatic evil of Jack or Roger – instead, they’re the ordinary, well-intentioned bystanders who become complicit in awful crimes. By the end, the question is not whether we can tell Sam and Eric apart, but whether we can distinguish Samneric from ourselves.
2. Lisa and Lottie, in Erich Kastner’s Lottie and Lisa (also published as The Parent Trap)
This charming and improbable tale is the basis of many film adaptations, including the 1998 Lindsay Lohan vehicle, The Parent Trap. Kastner’s story depicts twins, Lottie and Lisa, separated as babies when their parents divorce. When the girls encounter one another at summer camp, they conspire to swap identities, in order to have a chance to meet the parent that each believed to be dead. For the twins, swapping their hairstyles (Lottie’s curly hair and Lisa’s braids) works a bit like Clarke Kent’s glasses: a disguise that allows them to fool even their own parents, at least at first…
3. Corin and Cor, in CS Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy
In a nod to Mark Twain’s classic novel The Prince and the Pauper, runaway urchin Shasta is mistaken for prince Corin and swept up in his place. But whereas the lookalikes in Twain’s novel are unrelated, it turns out that Shasta is in fact (spoiler alert) Corin’s long-lost twin brother, Cor. This pair might look identical, but they couldn’t be more different – and young bruiser Corin is delighted to surrender his right to the throne to his more responsible brother.
4. Viola and Sebastian, in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Knight
Shakespeare’s plays are full of twins – perhaps because he had twins himself, Judith and Hamnet (though Hamnet sadly died young). Twelfth Night might seem to be a comedy about romance, but lost siblings are at its heart. Lady Olivia’s drawn-out mourning is for her dead brother. Twins Viola and Sebastian are separated in a shipwreck, and each believes the other to be dead. Viola disguises herself as a male to protect herself in this unknown land - but it’s also arguably a form of keeping her dead brother alive, until he conveniently returns for their joyful reunion.
5. Laurie and Lia, in Lois Duncan’s Stranger with My Face
Instead of light-hearted identity swapping pranks, Duncan’s YA thriller gives us a fully-fledged, soap-opera style evil twin. Laurie discovers that she was separated at birth from her identical twin – but the bad news is that Lia is murderous, manipulative, and threatening to take-over Laurie’s life via astral-projection. It’s a bonkers adventure that everyone will enjoy - except for actual twins, who are probably sick to death of the ‘evil twin’ stereotype.
6. The Cheeryble brothers, in Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby
With literature, film, and TV full of evil twins, it’s refreshing to encounter generous and kind Charles Cheeryble and his twin Edwin, “the very type and model of himself – the same face, the same figure, the same coat, waistcoat, and neckcloth.” Charles and Ned, full of charity and compassion, watch over Nicholas and his family like a pair of wealthy, elderly cherubs.
7. Fred and George Weasley, in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series
If being identical twins didn’t already present enough mischief-making potential, being identical twins in a school of magic takes the chaos to another level. Fred and George, partners in mischief, make the most of it all, with identity swaps and magical pranks. Their inseparable nature only makes (spoiler ahead!) their ultimate separation more poignant.
8. Claude and Eustace Wooster, in PG Wodehouse’s The Inimitable Jeeves
Claude and Eustace are the literary precursors of Rowling’s Weasley twins. They create chaos at every turn, and inevitably drag with them their hapless cousin, Bertie Wooster. Even when Claude and Eustace are supposed to be studying in the countryside, they do a sideline in taking bets on the sermon times of the local clergy. Usually partners in crime, their mistake is to compete for the love of the same woman, a division that Bertie’s brilliant butler, Jeeves, is able to exploit in order to outwit them once and for all.
9. Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, in Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High series
Almost all girls of my generation were raised on the stories of Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, two identical blonde Californian twins, who argue, occasionally swap, and compete for boys. These stories haven’t dated well (for one thing, the repeated emphasis on the twins’ “perfect size six” figures is grating) but they still offer some fun twin hi-jinks. Elizabeth is responsible and diligent; Jessica is popular, impulsive and, let’s be honest, a little bit of a sociopath.
10. Thompson and Thomson, in the Tintin comic books by Hergé
This pair of detectives forms one of the recurring delights of the Tintin books. While their different surnames might suggest that they’re are unrelated, Thompson and Thomson appear identical (except for a slight difference in moustache style) and were based on Hergé’s father and uncle, identical twins. They’re as disastrous with words as they are with their investigations, and their dialogue is a constant stream of linguistic bungles. Despite their refrain of “To be precise,” it’s hard to imagine a more (delightfully) imprecise pair.
