DUAL CITIZENS :: Alix Ohlin

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

Half-sisters Lark and Robin are left to their own devices at a young age: their respective fathers are gone and their shared mother, Marianne, leaves them to fend for themselves for days. Despite their differences--introverted Lark (nicknamed "Looks Down at the Ground" in college) craves routine, while Robin is "never entirely tame"--the girls forge an incredible bond.

Over four parts (Before, Childhood, Motherhood, After), Alix Ohlin's Dual Citizens traces the sisters' crisscrossing paths of self-discovery. Irreparably impacted by their childhood in Montreal, they struggle to find their places in the world, together and through agonizing fractures in their relationship.

Brilliant Lark scores a scholarship to study film in Boston, leaving Robin with Marianne and her many boyfriends. Robin, a piano prodigy, eventually escapes to join Lark and is accepted into Julliard. The dynamic fluctuates when Lark takes on a motherly role as Robin's legal guardian, and Robin rebels against the rigors and structure of Juilliard.

Ohlin's prose and insight are luminous, particularly within Childhood, focused on the girls' early years and the exposed roots they trip over as they try to find their footing--as sisters, daughters, parental figures and individuals. Motherhood is equally compelling yet oddly discordant, as Robin and Lark spend much of it apart. As with her prior novel, Inside, Ohlin is adroit at articulating her characters' internal dialogues, and it becomes apparent to the reader as it does to both women that they are at their most harmonious when connected to each other.

STREET SENSE: Fans of relationship stories, particularly female relationships, should really connect with this work. I found myself much more interested in Robin and Lark than Lark and her male counterpartis. They were so well drawn I didn't want to leave them, which helped me really feel the emotion when they were apart. That's some good writin'.

A FAVORITE PASSAGE:  All my life I'd gathered tidbits--things I read, a picture that lingered, the memory of an afternoon in a movie theatre, the face of my sister as she laughed--and sometimes my head felt cluttered as an attic with them. But stitching a film together satisfied this collector's itch perfectly, my magpie treasures woven and spackled into a nest.

COVER NERD SAYS:  Dig it. It didn't tell me all that much about what the book is about, but enough to intrigue me. It had me with the image, color palette, and minimalism. Interesting is the sleeved arm v. the bare arm. Normally, this might upset the balance of the cover, especially since the author's name (overlay to the sleeved arm) is in bigger font than the title that sits over the bare arm. Although you'd think this would result in something a bit top-heavy, it doesn't. To me, it reads almost like a fluid flowing from a vessel (the sleeved arm) to something past the bottom of the page. It speaks to the fluidity of Robin and Lark's relationship and also their connectivity. Then the arms and hands. Are they reaching for each other or separating? I love how much this cover says (or suggests without saying) with so little. Winner.