Double Act was not one of my favourite Jacqueline Wilson novels as a kid, despite my mum being a twin, Garnet having literally the same taste in books that I did and her dad running a bookshop. Maybe it was too full of sibling drama which, as an only child, didn’t really resonate with me.
Only I suppose we’re not really like the normal sort of family you read about in books.
Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
Despite Garnet’s preference for Little Women and The Twins at St Clare’s, Jacqueline Wilson makes it clear immediately that Double Act is a much more modern book. In fact, you could say that the reward of a childhood reading Jacqueline Wilson is a much better ability to empathise with modern families, even those unlike the reader’s own. Even a child who never had a stepmother can experience a window into that life with Ruby and Garnet.
While Ruby and Garnet’s initial hatred of Rose is understandable, Ruby’s treatment of her twin sister is a little much to bear. Even before their dramatic falling out at the climax of the novel, Ruby takes advantage, not seeming to care at all about Garnet’s repeated attempts to make her own choices. (It’s not that Garnet doesn’t try or isn’t clear, it’s literally that Ruby ignores her.)
The reconciliation is affecting, it feels too little too late. Jacqueline Wilson whets the reader’s appetite with a vision of how these two characters could develop, but ends the story before any actual change has occurred.
In spite of Double Act‘s particular flaws, Jacqueline Wilson always writes an engaging story.
Chalk Letters Books 