In 'Her,' a woman recounts the painful loss of an identical twin

Her book jacket
The cover of "Her," by Christa Parravani.
Courtesy of the publisher

Christa and Cara Parravani were identical twins whose lives were intertwined. They attended college and graduate school together, they both became artists, they both married young. But after Cara was raped while out walking her dog, their lives diverged. Cara became addicted to drugs, eventually dying of an overdose at the age of 28.

In "Her," Christa writes about the bond she shared with her sister and charts her efforts to avoid the same fate after Cara's death.

Christa Parravani told The Daily Beast, "Losing an identical twin is a uniquely maddening experience, and one that I hadn't read very much about. After surviving that loss, I had to tell the story."

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MORE ABOUT 'HER':

A Singular Pain: When Death Cuts the Bond of Twins. The New York Times looks at the experience of Christa Parravani and others who have lost their identical twins.

Without Her Twin: Christa Parravani's Debut Memoir. Christa Parravani is interviewed by her husband Anthony Swofford in The Daily Beast about her experience writing "Her."

Losing my twin. An excerpt from "Her," featured on Salon.