Chang and Eng by Darin Strauss

Darin Strauss states right off the bat that his novel, Chang and Eng, is just that: a novel. He has taken real historical events: the birth of the conjoined twins in Siam, their kidnapping by the king, their return to their family only to be sold to an American entrepreneur, their gradual retirement from the “freak show” life and subsequent marriage to two sisters in North Carolina, followed by dozens of children and decades of sadness; he takes all this and weaves a narrative around it all.

Strauss’s novel is narrated by Eng, whom he portrays as the more intelligent, cultured, and unhappier twin. Eng likes to read (especially Shakespeare), speaks perfect English and wholeheartedly embraces the Temperance Movement in America. Eng also wishes terribly to return to Siam and their family, hating the circus life. Eng’s brother Chang, by contrast, never masters the English language, hates to read and by the end of his life, is a raging alcoholic.

The two marry sisters in North Carolina, one of whom has a scandalous past. They fight with their wives, they fight with each other, and they try to raise their children and pay the bills. What struck me about this story was that while the two men have been conjoined at the upper body by a band of cartilage their whole lives, they really didn’t act differently than any other two brothers tied together by mere blood. They have their own unique issues, and their years of displaying themselves for money destroyed them both in different ways, but they were brothers no matter what.

Strauss tells their tale in an interesting way: beginning with their deaths, then backtracking to their births, then alternating chapters between their lives up to their marriage, and their lives post-marriage. While every word may not be strictly true, Strauss tells a good story and his Chang Bunker was a character I found I really liked, for all his faults.