3.5 stars.

The premise for this novel held a lot of promise. An interesting tale based upon twin sisters who are faked by their father into a "siamese twin" act in a 1920s travelling vaudeville. As they age, one of the sisters decides to abandon the farce, reveals the family secret, and leaves to find fame and fortune on her own.

The tale begins with a bit of an Evelyn Hugo premise, where a reporter has approached one sister upon the other's death in search of a story. The tale is then told, including backgrounds of both parents, by the remaining sister.

While I enjoyed pieces of this novel and the writing was decent, it didn't quite feel fully fleshed out. The tension lapses quite a few times and the jumping around of timelines doesn't quite work. Instead, it gives the plot a jumbled feel that lost me on occasion. The narrative took on a bit of a depressed literary feel along the way, with the remaining sister seeming resentful of the freedom achieved by her twin as she abandoned the family.

There is a lot of emotional trauma throughout the book and there are quite a few heavy topics addressed through the narrative. I do think there was a lot of potential in the work, but it just didn't have the oomph behind it. The lack of both sisters' perspectives gave the story a lopsided feel and I think balancing this out with an additional POV would have been helpful.

Overall, a decent read, but just didn't quite meet the mark for me.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *