Linda Shenton Matchett: Rayne’s Redemption

Trumpet Tuesday: Rayne’s Redemption

By Linda Shenton Matchett

Twins run in my family, and I always wondered if my husband and I’d had children whether twins would have made an appearance. Instead, my sister was the sibling in our generation blessed with twins, beautiful fraternal twin girls. While thinking about my next story, my nieces celebrated their birthday, prompting me to write a mail-order bride story that featured twins.

Research into twins, especially in the 1800s, was challenging. Many women gave birth at home either alone or with the help of a midwife. Records and statistics are sparse from the time period, however I found a study from France that indicated approximately 15 births per 1000 in the early 1700s. A century later, the number was half that.

Currently, as many as one in thirty babies a twin. Scholars feel the increase may be due to the fact that more women over the age of 30 are having children and more are using fertility drugs which increase the likelihood of multiple gestation.

Read on for some intriguing facts about twins:

• Identical twins do not have identical fingerprints. Fingerprints are not solely generated based on DNA.
• Massachusetts has the highest rate of twin births followed by Connecticut, then New Jersey. Something in the water? One researcher theorized that more multiple births occur in the Boston area because of a higher concentration of wealthier women who pursued careers, putting off having children to a later age then seeking reproductive assistance.
• Mirror image identical twins have reverse asymmetric features, meaning they become exact reflections of one another. This accounts for about twenty-five percent of identical twins.
• About forty percent of twins develop their own language called cryptophasia. Some scholars believe that twins use each other as models when developing language. The “language” consists of inverted words and onomatopoetic expressions.
• Kansas natives Leota Ruth Andrews Clogston and her sister Evelyn Marguerite Forren are the world’s oldest living twins at 107. As an aside, male twins rarely live as long as female twins.
• Unlike actresses-turned-fashion designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen who are both well-known, many celebrities have less-than-famous twins such as Ashton Kutcher (Michael), Rami Malek (Sami), Kiefer Sutherland (Rachel), and Gisele Bundchen (Gabriela).

Do you know any twins? Are you a twin?

About Rayne’s Redemption:

Will she have to lose her identity to find true love?

Twin sisters Rayne and Jessica Dalton have been swapping places their whole lives, so when Jessica dies on the eve of heading west to become a mail-order bride, Rayne decides to fill her sister’s shoes. The challenge will be faking Jessica’s faith in God. Can Rayne fool her prospective groom without losing her heart…or her soul?

Flynn Ward fled England to escape his parent’s attempts at marrying him off, but locating a woman to love in the Wyoming mountains is harder than finding a hackney in a rainstorm. Then the Westward Home & Hearts Agency offers him the perfect match. But when his prospective bride arrives, she’s nothing like she seemed in her letters. Is he destined to go through life alone?

Can two desperate people overcome their differences to find common ground…and love?

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WR9KL8S

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is currently working with the museum curator on her first exhibit, Shaped By Conflict, which will be on display from May 1 to June 30, 2021. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors. 

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