The Twins - Tessa de Loo Library 001

Twins Lotte and Anna share a bond so close it seems unbreakable. But when war comes between them, they understand that even the most intimate relationships have their limits.
Born in Cologne in 1916, the twins are abruptly separated after their parents' death. Anna, the sturdier of the two, grows up with her grandfather on a humble farm in Germany, in a Catholic environment amidst hostile and cruel surroundings. Suffering from tuberculosis, Lotte is sent to the Netherlands, where she lives with wealthy, socialist-sympathising relatives. The poor relationship between these family members, as well as the war, causes the girls to lose contact with each other.
After a turbulent encounter as young adults, their paths cross again when they are elderly, at a thermal spa. Lotte, who sheltered Jews during the war, initially distrusts her sister. But, through Anna's harsh story, she is confronted with the other side of her reality: the suffering of ordinary Germans during the war.
Tessa de Loo intertwines the stories of the two sisters with those of the two countries, enemies in the war, while exploring the influence exerted by nature, on the one hand, and culture, on the other, on the individual.