Reviewer: Liz Geist
Published: 2020
Series: N/A
Genres: YA, Graphic Novel, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Ghosts
Grade Levels: 10, 11, 12
Content Warnings: some violence, death and loss
Goodreads Link: The Phantom Twin
Publisher’s Summary:
A young woman is haunted by the ghost of her conjoined twin, in Lisa Brown’s The Phantom Twin, a sweetly spooky graphic novel set in a turn-of-the-century sideshow. Isabel and Jane are the Extraordinary Peabody Sisters, conjoined twins in a traveling carnival freak show―until an ambitious surgeon tries to separate them and fails, causing Jane’s death. Isabel has lost an arm and a leg but gained a ghostly companion: Her dead twin is now her phantom limb. Haunted, altered, and alone for the first time, can Isabel build a new life that’s truly her own?
Review:
The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown is a graphic novel about Isabel and Jane, the “Peabody Sisters- Siamese Twins,” conjoined twins raised and exhibited in a traveling carnival sideshow in the early 1900s. Jane meets an ambitious surgeon who promises them independence by performing a risky separation surgery to separate them. Ultimately, this surgery leaves Isabel alive but missing an arm and a leg, while Jane did not make it through the procedure. However, she still lingers as a phantom presence (echoing the idea of a phantom limb/twin). Alone for the first time at sixteen, Isabel must navigate grief and loss, disability, identity, and life beyond the sideshow that was once her entire world.
I enjoyed the book for its expressive art style, emotional impact, and historical carnival setting, which the author brings to life in a compelling way. Brown does an impressive job of giving voice and personality to characters who rarely have a voice in history. While the graphic novel explores several meaningful topics, including loss, romance, and sideshow life, I felt that sometimes feel the author really never fully explored any one topic deep enough. The story shifts quickly between themes, preventing any one from being explored in greater depth. I would recommend this book to high school students due to its themes of grief, identity, and mild violence. Students may initially be drawn to the book by its cover art and ghostly imagery. Personally, I was drawn to the book based on the recommendation from Neil Gaiman on the cover, but did find an entertaining and touching story.
