Lottie and Lisa (1949)

Lisa and Lottie, published in the United Kingdom and Australia as The Parent Trap, (original German title: Das doppelte Lottchen, lit.: "The Double Lottie") is a 1949 German children's novel by Erich Kästner. The book is about identical twin girls whose parents separated them in infancy upon divorcing, only to reunite at a summer camp years later before switching places.

The book originates from a film scenario Kästner developed during World War II that was never produced. In 1942, when he was briefly allowed by the Nazi authorities to work as a screenwriter, he proposed the plot to Josef von Báky, under the title The Great Secret, but the Nazis once again forbade him to work. After the war, Kästner wrote his idea into the book Das doppelte Lottchen, which was illustrated by Walter Trier.

A successful novel, Das doppelte Lottchen has been adapted for the screen multiple times, most notably

Disney's 1961 American film The Parent Trap starring Hayley Mills, its sequels and 1998 remake starring Lindsay Lohan, and other localized versions.

In 1962, Cyrus Brooks translated Das doppelte Lottchen into English as Lottie and Lisa (later as Lisa and Lottie), an edition still published in the United States and Canada.

In 2014, the book was faithfully retranslated into English by Anthea Bell, featuring Walter Trier's illustrations and republished in the United Kingdom and Australia by Pushkin Press as The Parent Trap, after Disney's adaptation. In 2020, Australian actress Ruby Rees recorded an unabridged narration of Bell's translation for Bolinda.

Plot summary

Chapter One

At a German all-girls' summer camp at Seebühl on Lake Bühl (Bohrlaken on Lake Bohren in Cyrus Brooks' translation and Seebühl am Bühlsee in the German original), two nine-and-a-half-year-old girls named Luise Palfy (Lisa Palfy in Brooks' translation) and Lottie Körner (Lottie Horn in Brooks' translation) are surprised to see how identical they look. Despite looking alike, Luise has her hair curled in ringlets and is rude, while Lottie has her own hair styled in two braids and is shy. Summer camp head Mrs Muthesius and camp assistants Miss Ulrike and Miss Gerda also marvel at the two girls' uncanny resemblance, considering the facts that Luise lives in Vienna, Lottie lives in Munich, and they have never met before. At suppertime, the camp staff arranges for Luise and Lottie to sit together at the same table and to sleep in the same room. After kicking Lottie in the shin during supper, Luise has a change of heart and strokes Lottie's hair before sleeping beside her.

Chapter Two

Luise and Lottie begin getting to know one another and become good friends. At lunchtime, the two girls both show up in braids and have everyone guessing who is who. Luise and Lottie are then allowed to go into the village, where local photographer Mr Josef Eipeldauer takes pictures of them to send home. Upon learning they were both born on October 14 and in Linz, Luise and Lottie realise they are identical twin sisters, a fact that Miss Ulrike has also discovered while checking on the girls' personal information; yet Mrs Muthesius forbids her assistant from revealing the truth, correctly suspecting that the sisters already know it. When the sisters return to camp, Lottie gives Luise a photograph of their mother.

Chapter Three

Instead of sending the pictures home, Luise and Lottie tear them up and dump the pieces into the lake. The sisters deduce that they had lived together until they were two years old, when their parents divorced and split them up just as their mother, Luiselotte, divided her own first name to give her daughters theirs. Luise has even asked her father to send her a photograph of himself, which she then gives to Lottie.

Chapter Four

For the past weeks, Luise and Lottie have been exchanging notes on how to impersonate one another, as they secretly plan to switch places and each spend time with the parents they have never known before. When the time comes for the campers to go home, Luise (as Lottie) braids her hair and takes the train to Munich and Lottie (as Luise) curls her own hair and takes the train to Vienna.

Chapter Five

Luise is now living in Munich with her mother, Luiselotte Körner (Lisalotte Horn in Brooks' translation), an editor for the Munich Illustrated weekly newspaper.

Lottie is now living in an apartment in Vienna with her father, Ludwig Palfy (Arnold Palfy in Brooks' translation), a Music Director at the Opera House, and his housekeeper, Resi. While Lottie and her father are having supper at a hotel, paediatrician Dr. Strobl shows up with his dog, Peperl, who sniffs at the girl and knows she is not Luise. At home, Resi is surprised by "Luise's" sudden interest in housework.

It is revealed that whenever Ludwig holds a concert in Munich, Luiselotte secretly buys a ticket and watches him perform, aware that he is unhappy despite his successful career.

Chapter Six

In Munich, Luise messes up while trying to cook like her sister, but her mother happily helps her "little housewife", her nickname for the real Lottie, who always keeps house whenever Luiselotte works overtime.

In Vienna, Lottie watches her father conduct a performance of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Sitting next to Lottie is a woman named Irene Gerlach, whom she suspects is her father's new girlfriend. That night, Lottie dreams that Miss Gerlach is an evil witch who divides the family of four.

Chapter Seven

When school resumes, "Luise" surprises her teachers and classmates by becoming a model student. By then, Peperl has accepted Lottie as a friend as she resumes impersonating her sister and does many of Resi's chores for her. Meanwhile, Ludwig, who has been giving Lottie piano lessons, tells Irene of his plan to write his own children's opera.