Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry has probably been my most looked-forward-to book of the year. I (like everyone else) loved The Time Traveler's Wife. What I liked about it: the love story, the supernatural, the fact that you get so engrossed in the characters that you don't care about the flaws or holes or plausibility of the time traveling. I knew that Her Fearful Symmetry was going to contain the same kind of supernatural storyline woven into the plot, and I was excited for the escape from reality.Niffenegger's second novel (6 years after her first one) involves two sets of twins: Elspeth and Edie, and Edie's twin daughters, Valentina and Julia. Elspeth has just died of cancer and left her London flat to her two nieces whom she has never met. So when the inheritance kicks in as the girls turn 21, they decide to leave their home in Ohio and take their humdrum, unmotivated lives to London.
Valentina and Julia are the kind of twins that you look at and say, "Shouldn't they have grown out of that by now?" They look the same, dress the same, but unbeknownst to the casual observer, they do not think the same. Though they have always led their lives "together," things are changing. Julia wanted to go to London; Valentina did not. Valentina wants to go back to college; Julia does not. They struggle with their codependence and their desire to be apart, but ultimately, Valentina feels stifled by Julia and wants to lead her own life. While fighting their internal demons, they encounter some external ones as well. The twins learn that the ghost of Elspeth is trapped in the apartment, and they can communicate with her. Throw in the creepy setting of London's Highgate Cemetery and an eccentric supporting cast, and we have ourselves a kind of ghost story.
The strongest part of this book is the setting. Niffenegger's sense of setting is fabulous. She is so descriptive and has a skill of setting the scene to draw you in the mood and tone of the story. The secondary characters are also excellent. We meet Robert, Elspeth's younger lover that lives in the flat below the twins, and Martin, a middle-aged OCD man who is determined to get better so he can get back his wife that left him. However, I was left with a lot of questions about relationships. For one, the author attempts to describe some kind of complex twin love that sounded frighteningly more sexual than it should, but she never took it far enough to really matter. The aspects of relationships that should've been deeply explored were not. I never felt too connected to most of the characters; they just didn't have much depth, and I couldn't really understand the logic behind their actions or emotions. Martin and his wife Marijke ended up having the most satisfying storyline of all.
I don't know if it's because I've read a lot of books and seen a lot of movies, but at exactly page 306, I knew how this story would conclude. I didn't even have that much desire to read more than just the last page. But I forged ahead, and yes, I was correct in my guess. I was left at the end just saying, "What?" A lot was left open, and I don't mean "open to interpretation" open. I mean it just seemed like she got lazy and gave up. Audrey Niffenegger has proven herself to be a creative person, so I know she's got it in her!
I couldn't put down Her Fearful Symmetry. It was an engrossing read that I got through quickly. I enjoyed reading it, but I don't know if I liked it. However, I've read several reviews that say this was the reviewer's favorite read of the year, so to each her own, I guess.
What did you think? Did it live up to the hype for you?
Valentina and Julia are the kind of twins that you look at and say, "Shouldn't they have grown out of that by now?" They look the same, dress the same, but unbeknownst to the casual observer, they do not think the same. Though they have always led their lives "together," things are changing. Julia wanted to go to London; Valentina did not. Valentina wants to go back to college; Julia does not. They struggle with their codependence and their desire to be apart, but ultimately, Valentina feels stifled by Julia and wants to lead her own life. While fighting their internal demons, they encounter some external ones as well. The twins learn that the ghost of Elspeth is trapped in the apartment, and they can communicate with her. Throw in the creepy setting of London's Highgate Cemetery and an eccentric supporting cast, and we have ourselves a kind of ghost story.
The strongest part of this book is the setting. Niffenegger's sense of setting is fabulous. She is so descriptive and has a skill of setting the scene to draw you in the mood and tone of the story. The secondary characters are also excellent. We meet Robert, Elspeth's younger lover that lives in the flat below the twins, and Martin, a middle-aged OCD man who is determined to get better so he can get back his wife that left him. However, I was left with a lot of questions about relationships. For one, the author attempts to describe some kind of complex twin love that sounded frighteningly more sexual than it should, but she never took it far enough to really matter. The aspects of relationships that should've been deeply explored were not. I never felt too connected to most of the characters; they just didn't have much depth, and I couldn't really understand the logic behind their actions or emotions. Martin and his wife Marijke ended up having the most satisfying storyline of all.
I don't know if it's because I've read a lot of books and seen a lot of movies, but at exactly page 306, I knew how this story would conclude. I didn't even have that much desire to read more than just the last page. But I forged ahead, and yes, I was correct in my guess. I was left at the end just saying, "What?" A lot was left open, and I don't mean "open to interpretation" open. I mean it just seemed like she got lazy and gave up. Audrey Niffenegger has proven herself to be a creative person, so I know she's got it in her!
I couldn't put down Her Fearful Symmetry. It was an engrossing read that I got through quickly. I enjoyed reading it, but I don't know if I liked it. However, I've read several reviews that say this was the reviewer's favorite read of the year, so to each her own, I guess.
What did you think? Did it live up to the hype for you?
