A good time was had by all who gathered to celebrate the birthday and the book of these twins, who were separated at birth.

Their book is called Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited.

It must have been surreal for the twins, who  were deprived of so many birthdays together, to hear a huge crowd of friends and family sing Happy Birthday at Le Gamin in Prospect Heights. This one had to be one of the best birthdays of their lives.

The birthday cake, white cake with creamy chocolate icing, was delicious and sweet, too. It was made at Ladybird Bakery in Park Slope (the new Two LIttle Red Hens on 8th Avenue near 12th Street).

I met Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein two years ago at a Brooklyn Reading Works event about adoption. They were just setting out on their journey of writing this memoir.

My sister and I were interviewed by Paula and Elyse at Sweet Melilssa’s. That interview is included in the book.

Now the book is done, it’s getting raves and the twins are about to set off on a national book tour.

They’ve already been on Good Morning America, Fox News, and 60-Minutes.  They’ll be in People Magazine later this week. Even Wired Magazine had this to say:

This absorbing chronicle, written by recently reunited twin sisters who
had been unaware that they were subjects of a 1960s study on heritable
mental illness, casts a decisive vote for nature over nurture. — Joanna Pearlstein (Wired)

A heartfelt congratulations to Paula and Elyse. Thanks for including me and my twin sister in your book.