June and Jennifer Gibbons
Encyclopedia
June and Jennifer Gibbons (born April 11, 1963; Jennifer died in 1993), were identical twins who grew up in Wales
. They became known as 'The Silent Twins' owing to their choice to communicate only with their immediate family. They began writing works of fiction but turned to crime in a bid for recognition. Both women were committed to Broadmoor Hospital
where they were held for 14 years.
Gloria and Aubrey Gibbons. Gloria was a housewife and Aubrey worked as a technician for the Royal Air Force
. Shortly after their birth in Barbados
, their family moved to Haverfordwest
, Wales
. The twin sisters were inseparable, and had speech impediments that made them difficult to understand for people outside their immediate family, and they mixed very little with other children. School was traumatic for them: they were ostracized in the school. Eventually the school administrators had to send them home early each day to avoid being bullied and give them a head start. Their language became even more idiosyncratic at this time - an idioglossia
- and became unintelligible to outsiders. They spoke to no one except each other and their younger sister Rose, and became even more isolated.
When they turned 14, after a succession of therapists had tried unsuccessfully to get them to communicate with others, they were sent to separate boarding school
s in an attempt to break their isolation. The pair became catatonic
and entirely withdrawn when parted.
style, reading some of them aloud on tape as gifts for their sister. Inspired by a pair of gift diaries at Christmas 1979, they began their writing careers. They sent away for a mail order
course in creative writing
, and each wrote several novels. Set primarily in the United States
and particularly in Malibu, California, an excitingly exotic locale to romantic girls trapped in a sleepy Welsh town, the stories concerned young men and women who become involved in strange and often criminal behaviour.
In June's Pepsi-Cola Addict, the high-school hero is seduced by a teacher, then sent away to a reformatory
where a homosexual guard makes a play for him. In Jennifer's The Pugilist, a physician is so eager to save his child's life that he kills the family dog to obtain its heart for a transplant. The dog's spirit lives on in the child and ultimately has its revenge against the father. Jennifer also wrote Discomania, the story of a young woman who discovers that the atmosphere of a local disco incites patrons to insane violence. She followed up with The Taxi-Driver's Son, a radio play called Postman and Postwoman, and several short stories. They wrote in a unique personal style, often with unwittingly amusing word choices.
called New Horizons, and they made many attempts to sell short stories
to magazines, but were unsuccessful. A brief fling with some American boys, the sons of a U.S. Navy serviceman, led nowhere. Desperate for recognition and fame (and perhaps publicity for their books), the girls committed a number of petty crimes including arson
, which led to their being committed to Broadmoor Hospital
, a high security mental health hospital. There they remained for 14 years. Placed on high doses of antipsychotic medications, they found themselves unable to concentrate; Jennifer apparently developed tardive dyskinesia
. Their medications were apparently adjusted sufficiently to allow them to continue the copious diaries they had begun in 1980, and they were able to join the hospital choir, but they lost most of their interest in creative writing.
The case achieved some notice due to newspaper coverage by The Sunday Times
journalist Marjorie Wallace
. The Sun, a British tabloid gave a brief but accurate account of their story, headlined "Genius Twins Won't Speak" (an apparent reference to their having tested above average intelligence when being considered for Broadmoor).
of the heart (reported initially as viral myocarditis). There was no evidence of drugs or poison in her system. To this day, Jennifer's death remains a mystery.
After Jennifer's death, June gave interviews with Harper's Bazaar
and The Guardian
. She became more communicative and was able to speak with other people. She lived at home with her family in Haverfordwest apparently until 2005, when she began living with her partner in a nearby town. She contemplates resuming her writing, although she describes her early books as "all over the place" and not very good. After Wallace's book appeared, Pepsi-Cola Addict became a valuable collector's item, and the novel has been reprinted several times.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. They became known as 'The Silent Twins' owing to their choice to communicate only with their immediate family. They began writing works of fiction but turned to crime in a bid for recognition. Both women were committed to Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is the best known of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth and Rampton...
where they were held for 14 years.
Early life
June and Jennifer were the daughters of West Indian immigrantsBritish West Indies
The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...
Gloria and Aubrey Gibbons. Gloria was a housewife and Aubrey worked as a technician for the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. Shortly after their birth in Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, their family moved to Haverfordwest
Haverfordwest
Haverfordwest is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales and serves as the County's principal commercial and administrative centre. Haverfordwest is the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire, with a population of 13,367 in 2001; though its community boundaries make it the second most populous...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. The twin sisters were inseparable, and had speech impediments that made them difficult to understand for people outside their immediate family, and they mixed very little with other children. School was traumatic for them: they were ostracized in the school. Eventually the school administrators had to send them home early each day to avoid being bullied and give them a head start. Their language became even more idiosyncratic at this time - an idioglossia
Idioglossia
An idioglossia is an idiosyncratic language invented and spoken by only one person or very few people. Most often, idioglossia refers to the "private languages" of young children, especially twins, the latter being more specifically known as cryptophasia, and commonly referred to as twin talk or...
- and became unintelligible to outsiders. They spoke to no one except each other and their younger sister Rose, and became even more isolated.
When they turned 14, after a succession of therapists had tried unsuccessfully to get them to communicate with others, they were sent to separate boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
s in an attempt to break their isolation. The pair became catatonic
Catatonia
Catatonia is a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor. It was first described in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein ....
and entirely withdrawn when parted.
Creative expression
When they were reunited, the two spent a couple of years isolating themselves in their bedroom, engaged in elaborate play with dolls. They created many plays and stories in a sort of soap operaSoap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
style, reading some of them aloud on tape as gifts for their sister. Inspired by a pair of gift diaries at Christmas 1979, they began their writing careers. They sent away for a mail order
Mail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
course in creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
, and each wrote several novels. Set primarily in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and particularly in Malibu, California, an excitingly exotic locale to romantic girls trapped in a sleepy Welsh town, the stories concerned young men and women who become involved in strange and often criminal behaviour.
In June's Pepsi-Cola Addict, the high-school hero is seduced by a teacher, then sent away to a reformatory
Reformatory
Reformatory is a term that has had varied meanings within the penal system, depending on the jurisdiction and the era. It may refer to a youth detention center, or an adult correctional facility. The term is still in popular use for adult facilities throughout the United States, although most...
where a homosexual guard makes a play for him. In Jennifer's The Pugilist, a physician is so eager to save his child's life that he kills the family dog to obtain its heart for a transplant. The dog's spirit lives on in the child and ultimately has its revenge against the father. Jennifer also wrote Discomania, the story of a young woman who discovers that the atmosphere of a local disco incites patrons to insane violence. She followed up with The Taxi-Driver's Son, a radio play called Postman and Postwoman, and several short stories. They wrote in a unique personal style, often with unwittingly amusing word choices.
Crime and hospitalization
Their novels were published by a vanity pressVanity press
A vanity press or vanity publisher is a term describing a publishing house that publishes books at the author's expense. Publisher Johnathon Clifford claims to have coined the term in 1959. However, the term appears in mainstream U.S...
called New Horizons, and they made many attempts to sell short stories
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
to magazines, but were unsuccessful. A brief fling with some American boys, the sons of a U.S. Navy serviceman, led nowhere. Desperate for recognition and fame (and perhaps publicity for their books), the girls committed a number of petty crimes including arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, which led to their being committed to Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is the best known of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth and Rampton...
, a high security mental health hospital. There they remained for 14 years. Placed on high doses of antipsychotic medications, they found themselves unable to concentrate; Jennifer apparently developed tardive dyskinesia
Tardive dyskinesia
Tardive dyskinesia is a difficult-to-treat form of dyskinesia that can be tardive...
. Their medications were apparently adjusted sufficiently to allow them to continue the copious diaries they had begun in 1980, and they were able to join the hospital choir, but they lost most of their interest in creative writing.
The case achieved some notice due to newspaper coverage by The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
journalist Marjorie Wallace
Marjorie Wallace (SANE)
Marjorie Shiona Wallace CBE is a British writer, broadcaster and investigative journalist and is the chief executive of SANE, a mental health charity in the UK established in 1986.-Early career:...
. The Sun, a British tabloid gave a brief but accurate account of their story, headlined "Genius Twins Won't Speak" (an apparent reference to their having tested above average intelligence when being considered for Broadmoor).
Jennifer's death
According to Wallace, the girls had long had an agreement that if one died, the other must begin to speak and live a normal life. During their stay in the hospital, they began to believe that it was necessary for one twin to die, and after much discussion, Jennifer agreed to be the sacrifice. Within hours after their release in 1993, Jennifer died of sudden inflammationInflammation
Inflammation is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process...
of the heart (reported initially as viral myocarditis). There was no evidence of drugs or poison in her system. To this day, Jennifer's death remains a mystery.
After Jennifer's death, June gave interviews with Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. She became more communicative and was able to speak with other people. She lived at home with her family in Haverfordwest apparently until 2005, when she began living with her partner in a nearby town. She contemplates resuming her writing, although she describes her early books as "all over the place" and not very good. After Wallace's book appeared, Pepsi-Cola Addict became a valuable collector's item, and the novel has been reprinted several times.
Popular culture
- Jon AmielJon AmielJon Amiel is an English film director who has since the early 1980s worked in film and television in both the UK and the US.-Early life:...
, The Silent Twins (1985) - Lucie Brock-Broido, "Elective Mutes", a poem with June as narrator. In A Hunger (Knopf, 2005) ISBN 0-394-75852-8.
- Vanessa WaltersVanessa WaltersVanessa Walters, born in London, 1978 is an English novelist and playwright. She is also a commentator and critic. She is best known as the teenage novelist discovered to be writing a novel as a hobby to share with her school friends...
, Double Take (drama) - Radiohole, None of It: More Or Less Hudson's Bay, Again
- Manic Street PreachersManic Street PreachersManic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
, "Tsunami" On This Is My Truth—Tell Me Yours - Luke HainesLuke HainesLuke Haines is an English musician, songwriter and author, who has recorded music under various names and with various bands, including The Auteurs, Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder.-'New Wave':...
, "Discomania" on The Oliver Twist Manifesto - Picture Frame SeductionPicture Frame SeductionPicture Frame Seduction is a hardcore punk band from Haverfordwest, Wales. The band's influences included their peers of the day, Charged GBH and Discharge. With many other bands of the time like The Varukers, they helped develop the hardcore punk scene in the United Kingdom in the early to mid...
, " Forgotten Daughters" (1984 track on Hand of the Rider written for the Jon AmielJon AmielJon Amiel is an English film director who has since the early 1980s worked in film and television in both the UK and the US.-Early life:...
film The Silent Twins) - Dog and Pony Theater, Chicago, The Twins Would Like To Say, written and directed by Seth Bockley and Devon de Mayo.
- Speechless, a play by Linda Brogan & Polly Teale, produced at the Arcola Theatre, London, 2011
External links
- Oliver Sacks, Bound Together in Fantasy and Crime New York Times review of The Silent Twins, October 19, 1986.
- Jennifer Gibbons, 29, 'Silent Twin' of a Study Announcement of Jennifer's death in the New York Times, March 12, 1993.
- Dark Ride, A french article about the sisters.
- Have I the strength to kill her? Guardian article about April deAngelis and Errollyn Wallen's 2007 opera about the twins.
- Review of The Pepsi-Cola Addict by Anthony Brockway, on babylonwales.com, February 4, 2007.