The Identicals

In The Identicals, Hilderbrand explores the deep-seated resentments that can fracture a family, arguing that reconciliation is possible only through confronting painful truths and extending forgiveness. The novel suggests that empathy, gained by walking in another’s shoes, is the essential catalyst for healing long-standing familial wounds. The central conflict between identical twins Harper and Tabitha stems from a lifetime of grievances, which can only be resolved when the foundations of their animosity are challenged and ultimately dismantled through a mutual shift in perspective.

Hilderbrand roots the twins’ lack of empathy for each other in the complete divergence of their lives and experiences after their parents’ divorce. The initial fracture in the sisters’ relationship is codified by an arbitrary game of “rock, paper, scissors” (21), used to decide which parent each twin would live with after their divorce, setting them on divergent paths and fostering years of jealousy and misunderstanding. The rift deepens into a chasm following the death of Tabitha’s infant son, Julian. For 14 years, Tabitha blames her sister for the tragedy, clinging to the belief that Harper’s insistence on a night out led to the baby’s death.