The Silent Twins
| June and Jennifer Gibbons | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 11, 1963 Barbados |
| Died | Jennifer: March 1993 (aged 29) |
| Residence | Haverfordwest, Wales |
| Other names | The Silent Twins |
| Occupation | Fiction authors |
| Parent(s) | Gloria and Aubrey Gibbons |
June and Jennifer Gibbons (born 11 April 1963; Jennifer died March 1993) were identical twins who grew up in Wales. They became known as "The Silent Twins" since they only communicated with each other. They began writing works of fiction but turned to crime in a bid for recognition. Both women were admitted to Broadmoor Hospital where they were held for 14 years.
June and Jennifer were the daughters of Caribbean immigrants Gloria and Aubrey Gibbons. Gloria was a housewife and Aubrey worked as a technician for the Air Force. Shortly after their birth in Barbados, their family moved to Haverfordwest, Wales. The twin sisters were inseparable and their particular high-speed patois made it difficult for people to understand them.
As the only black children in the community, they were ostracised at school. This proved traumatic for the twins, eventually causing their school administrators to dismiss them early each day so that they might avoid bullying. Their language became even more idiosyncratic at this time. Soon it was unintelligible to others. Their language, or idioglossia, qualified as an example of cryptophasia, exemplified by the twins' simultaneous actions, which often mirrored each other. Eventually the twins spoke to no one except each other and their younger sister Rose.
When the twins turned 14, a succession of therapists tried unsuccessfully to get them to communicate with others. They were sent to separate boarding schools in an attempt to break their isolation, but the pair became catatonic and entirely withdrawn when parted.
When they were reunited, the two spent several years isolating themselves in their bedroom, engaged in elaborate plays with dolls. They created many plays and stories in a sort of soap opera 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, the stories involve young men and women who exhibit strange and often criminal behaviour.
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