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- Title: Identicals: A Novel
- Author: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrator: Erin Bennett
- Length: 13:00:00
- Version: Abridged
- Release Date: 13/06/2017
- Publisher: Hachette Book Group USA
- Genre: Romance, Fiction & Literature, Rom-Com, Contemporary Women, Family Life
- ISBN13: 9.78E+12
The moment Erin Bennett’s voice first danced through my earbuds while I was watching the Atlantic crash against Portugal’s Costa Vicentina cliffs, I knew Identicals would be one of those rare audiobooks that becomes part of your personal geography. Elin Hilderbrand’s tale of twin sisters Harper and Tabitha Frost switching lives between Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard struck a particular chord with me – a traveler constantly negotiating between identities as I adapt to new cultures while staying true to my roots.
Hilderbrand’s genius lies in how she transforms these neighboring islands into distinct characters. Through Bennett’s nuanced narration, Nantucket emerges with crisp, preppy consonants – all sailboat masts and hydrangea hedges – while Martha’s Vineyard takes on a more relaxed, bohemian cadence. I found myself recalling a summer spent between Santorini’s polished caldera villages and Milos’ rugged fishing coves, where similar geographic proximity masked profound cultural differences.
The narration elevates what could have been simple beach reading into something more substantial. Bennett handles the sisters’ voices with surgical precision – Harper’s rebellious edge carried in slightly huskier tones, Tabitha’s perfectionism revealed through clipped phrasing. During a particularly moving scene where Tabitha discovers Harper’s hidden art portfolio, Bennett’s pacing – that pregnant pause before reading the dedication – had me frozen on a Lisbon tram, missing my stop because the emotional payoff was too perfect to interrupt.
Hilderbrand weaves in delicious details about island life that any traveler will appreciate. The description of Tabitha navigating the Chappy Ferry had me tasting salt air and remembering my own small-boat crossings between Panama’s Bocas del Toro islands. When Harper samples a Vineyard ice cream shop’s signature flavor, Bennett’s delivery makes you actually taste the blackberry swirl – a skill that reminds me of those Oaxacan grandmothers who could make you smell mole through their storytelling cadence alone.
What surprised me most was how the novel transcends its rom-com packaging. Beneath the mistaken identities and summer flirtations lies a sharp examination of how place shapes identity. The sisters’ eleven-mile separation becomes a metaphor for any of us who’ve felt divided between worlds – something I’ve experienced constantly as a Latino writer navigating predominantly white travel circles. Bennett’s voice carries this subtext beautifully, letting quiet moments resonate like the space between waves.
The audiobook’s greatest strength is how it balances humor and heartbreak. A scene where Tabitha’s teenage daughter discovers the switch had me laughing aloud in a Porto café, while later revelations about their mother’s illness brought unexpected tears during my morning run along the Douro River. Hilderbrand’s dialogue snaps with authentic sisterly rhythms that Bennett delivers like a seasoned stage actor – I kept forgetting I wasn’t listening to actual sisters bickering.
If I have one critique, it’s that some secondary characters lean toward coastal elite caricatures. A few Vineyard socialites sound suspiciously similar in Bennett’s otherwise stellar performance. But this is minor compared to how vividly she brings main players to life – particularly the sisters’ ailing mother, whose weakening voice Bennett renders with heartbreaking authenticity.
For travelers like myself, the book offers unexpected wisdom about roots versus routes. Harper and Tabitha’s journey suggests that sometimes you need to inhabit someone else’s geography to understand your own. It’s a lesson I’ve learned repeatedly, whether while sharing a nomadic Berber family’s tent in Morocco or cooking paella with Valencia locals who insisted their recipe would ‘cure my restlessness.’
Hilderbrand’s descriptions of island topography are so vivid they’ve inspired my next trip – I’ll be tracing the sisters’ footsteps between Oak Bluffs and Siasconset this fall. Bennett’s narration makes these locations feel as familiar as my childhood neighborhood, yet as mysterious as any foreign shore. There’s a particular magic when an audiobook doesn’t just tell you a story, but takes you somewhere – and this performance does both with sun-kissed brilliance.
With sandy toes and a well-traveled heart,
Marcus Rivera
