A review by sarahbowman101
Chang and Eng by Darin Strauss
3.0
This was somewhat disappointing, though I don't know exactly what I was looking for. This is a fictional account of Chang and Eng, the famous Siamese Twins (for which the term Siamese was coined). This novel goes back and forth between their birth and childhood in Siam and their adult lives and marriage to sisters in North Carolina.
The pacing between the time periods was fine, but I didn't find the characters very enlightening. No one is very likeable or sympathetic, which makes you wonder at the overall sideshow effect as a reader.
I have read that there are still descendents of Chang and Eng in the same North Carolina area, many of them twins. On retrospect, this seems an under developed part of the book. The only real astonishment comes in the realization of how early their success was (in terms of American History timeline) and that Chang and Eng owned slaves on their North Carolina farm!
Generally, I would suggest to skip this one, there are lots of other great historical novels out there.
The pacing between the time periods was fine, but I didn't find the characters very enlightening. No one is very likeable or sympathetic, which makes you wonder at the overall sideshow effect as a reader.
I have read that there are still descendents of Chang and Eng in the same North Carolina area, many of them twins. On retrospect, this seems an under developed part of the book. The only real astonishment comes in the realization of how early their success was (in terms of American History timeline) and that Chang and Eng owned slaves on their North Carolina farm!
Generally, I would suggest to skip this one, there are lots of other great historical novels out there.