The Twin of Doria Gray

The Twin of Doria Gray is a modern-day retelling and expansion of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The “picture” has a voice—she is Delinda Gray, the identical twin sister of Doria Gray, with whom she shares strange, paranormal abilities and an even stranger destiny. Dorian Gray’s picture had only to suffer those indignities which an inanimate object can suffer, whereas Delinda, a vividly intelligent and sensitive young woman, is tragically aware of every humiliation and misfortune that her more willful and narcissistic sister piles upon her: decades of premature aging, a disfiguring scar, several near-death experiences, venereal diseases, obesity, isolation, and an unwanted pregnancy which becomes a near-fatal cancer. Doria Gray is a monster of narcissism, combining charm, beauty, ruthlessness, and cruelty with unending youth. The novel details her relentless, epic climb to the pinnacle of the broadcast news industry and her subsequent attempt to capture the Democratic nomination for the presidency. Doria's life story and that of her twin sister Delinda are intertwined with twisted echoes of major American cultural and political events of the past forty years, from the Jonestown Massacre to the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, from the Oklahoma City bombing to the political saga of the Clintons. The novel’s dynamic plot with its Murakami-esque elements of the supernatural woven into the fabric of recognizable reality is as memerizing as the elegant, crisp writing style is utterly delightful.