In the book that spawned the beloved movie The Parent Trap, nine-year-old Lisa from Vienna bold, with a head of curls, meets Munich’s buttoned-up Lottie at summer camp. Soon, a newspaper clipping tells the tale: they’re identical twins, Lisa living a colorful, big-city life with her father while Lottie keeps house with their gentle mother. Why have their parents separated? And how can they get to the bottom of the mystery? They decide to switch hairstyles, manners, and addresses, and that is where the adventure begins.
Review
I love the original version of “The Parent Trap” movie (I’ve never tried any of the updates) but had never put any thought into what inspired it. Then Janine told me that she’d found a wonderful translation of the original book. I finally have time in my reading schedule and agree with her that it’s wonderful.
For Lisa, everything connected with her mother was terribly important. And Lottie longed to know everything—any little thing—that her sister could tell her about her father. For days on end they talked of nothing else.
At a girls camp on a lake – which like any girls camp is full of laughter, swimming, and sometimes tears at night when thoughts turn to home – two little girls discover each other. First comes confusion, then anger, then gradual getting to know each other. The camp director has known from the beginning, after she compared notes about the two, but the girls only slowly realize they are twins, separated when their parents divorced. Now what will they do?
In short, a conspiracy was afoot. . . .
If you’ve seen the 1961 movie or (after looking at the IMDB notes) the 1998 one you will discover that there are some changes from the book but the basic gist of it is the same. Lisa and Lottie meet, decide they want to experience the other parent, exchange copious notes about the other twin’s life, then pull off the scheme for a while.
Yes, there is an Evil Other Woman who wants to get her claws into Mr. Palfy – who is a famous conductor – and Mrs. Horn (Mrs. Palfy as was) works which I thought interesting for a book written in 1949. There’s also an inventive scene of a dream that Lottie has which mixes together her separation from her sister with an opera which her father conducted that seems very late 40s avant garde.
Her teachers thought Lisa had changed, Lottie knew that Rosa and Peterkin had changed, and her father began to see that the apartment in Rotenturm Street had changed. What a lot of changes!
The reason for the divorce is silly but of course that’s needed in order to have readers believe in the reconciliation and HEA. I grew up in an era when it was not unusual for children to go places in town on their own but the freedom allowed to Lisa and Lottie to roam at will might be startling. The twins are also nine when the book starts rather than the young teens in the films. One thing that lowers my grade just slightly is the fact that Lisa slaps a young classmate who is a terrible bully. One thing I was glad to see is that some of the characters in Munich and Vienna note that something seems different about Lisa or Lottie even if these things are puzzled over but allowed to slide. The different daughters also begin to work subtle changes in their (new to them) parents as well.
“You’re a pair of conspiring females,” he growled. “A fine couple of contriving minxes! You’ve even led my Peterkin up the garden path.”
He put out his two massive hands and gently stroked the girls’ heads. Then he gave a tremendous cough and got up. “Come, Peterkin! If you can tear yourself away from those frauds.”
Sure Mr. Palfy is a bit ridiculous as a composer so in need of quiet that he not only gets another apartment in which to do so but spends so much time there to the despair of his young bride. The EOW is a sly piece but Lottie sees right through her and even though she’s only ten, she masterfully maneuvers the situation. And watch out for Peterkin who is a dog who knows who he’s dealing with even if the humans don’t seem to have a clue. A-
~Jayne
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Jayne
Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there’s no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.
