Entwined

Praise

“In this page-turner of a memoir, Scott, a registered nurse and poet, recounts the remarkable, and often disturbing, true story of her life with and without her beloved fraternal twin sister, Judy…Scott’s haunting story shows the human race at both its worst and best.”
—Karen Springen, Booklist Starred Review

“Entwined is more than the story of twin sisters torn apart by the failings of society. It is an emotionally textured, indelibly layered, radiant weave of family and history, secrets and loyalty, disability and defiance, tragedy and forgiveness. Joyce Scott’s memoir speaks of a pain almost too wrenching to fathom, and a love so vast it will untie your own heart. I began this book spellbound by the intimacy Joyce shared with her famously gifted sister, Judith. I ended it moved by the transcendent language of art—and its power to turn suffering into beauty.”
—Rachel Simon, author of The Story of Beautiful Girl and Riding the Bus with My Sister

“Many books are hash-tagged ‘inspirational,’ but Entwined is the genuine thing, that rare and heart-wrenching blend of humor and pathos, but also a shiny gallantry, that makes it truly unforgettable.”
—Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Two If by Sea

“Joyce Scott and her sister, Judith, tell the same story, one using words and one using lengths of string and yarn to weave a complex and deeply moving narrative of their violent separation when they were children. Entwined is a courageous exploration of what that separation cost both of these women, and of what they somehow managed to protect and preserve. This is a profound, wise, and beautiful telling of their shared story.”
—Meredith Hall, author of Without a Map

“This story is a testament to love, the mysteries and pull of connection, and seeing past convention and appearances to our true selves. Joyce Scott knew, over decades and thousands of miles, that her twin needed to be freed. It took two forms of courage to liberate not only her own heart, but her sister’s gigantic creative force.”
—Paul and Judy Karasik, coauthors, The Ride Together: A Brother and Sister’s Memoir of Autism in the Family

“Entwined afforded me the rare experience of finishing a book and wanting immediately to read it again. Joining the worlds of outsider art and disability with startling emotional depth, Joyce Scott takes the reader on a powerful journey of loss, longing, family, false starts, resilience—and ultimately—love.”
—James W. Trent Jr., author of Inventing the Feeble Mind