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Her Fearful Symmetry

by Audrey Niffenegger (Goodreads Author)

3.19 · rating details · 33,294 ratings · 7,799 reviews

Six years after the phenomenal success of The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger has returned with a spectacularly compelling and haunting second novel set in and around Highgate Cemetery in London.

When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English a...more

Hardcover, 406 pages

Published September 29th 2009 by Jonathan Cape Ltd

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Nov 30, 2011

Mark rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, fantasy

I was a huge fan of Niffenegger's first book, Time Traveler's Wife. I loved that book so much that I avoided the movie like the plague because, from the trailer, I could tell it would not due the book justice and I didn't want to spoil my feelings towards it. Needless to say, I was eager to read Niffenegger's next work, Her Fearful Symmetry. Be forewarned if you haven't read the book, this will include spoilers.

Following twins Julia and Valentina, they inherit their aunt's flat after...more

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Oct 19, 2009

Teresa rated it

· review of another edition

I read Niffenegger's first novel before the days of GR; and I remembered when I decided to rate it, I wavered between 3 (liked it) and 4 stars (really liked it). I ended up opting for 4 stars, because I did remember so much of it due to its sense of place and its unique storytelling. Her second novel has these same elements -- her strengths are obviously her imaginative story lines, which she roots in concrete reality. But the story, which started out strong, lost its way long before the weak...more

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Jan 24, 2010

Kim rated it

Shelves: fiction

Wow, disappointing! Kept waiting for this to get good, and it never quite did. The two major "surprises" are painfully transparent well before they actually happen (I was hoping that I was being misled, because it couldn't be that obvious, could it?), most of the characters aren't very sympathetic, and the pacing is slow. Glad I didn't give into the impulse to buy a copy for myself, and instead borrowed it from the library - I'd be even more upset...

And of course, I'd be mo...more

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Apr 04, 2010

Aerin rated it

Shelves: fantasy, ghosts

There are few things more magical in this mundane world than when the right book comes into your life at precisely the right time. But for me, at least, most of the books I read come at the wrong time. I'll read marvelous children's books as an adult, and more than anything they make me sad because I know how much more they would have meant to me when I was younger (Oh, His Dark Materials. Oh, Holes.) Or I've read books much too young, hated them, and now am unable to erase that terrible fir...more

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Jan 28, 2010

Aths / Athira (Reading on a Rainy Day) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, fiction, f-fantasy-scifi, f-literary

This is a very tricky book to review.

I thoroughly enjoyed Her Fearful Symmetry. Having heard plenty of mixed reviews about this one, I wasn't sure how I would find it. On top of that, it was soon due back at the library, and I had 4 other library books calling my name desperately. I needn't have worried. This book definitely got me thinking and I like it when a book does that - when it stays in my mind for a long time after I actually finished reading it.

Her Fearful Symm...moreThis is a very tricky book to review.

I thoroughly enjoyed Her Fearful Symmetry. Having heard plenty of mixed reviews about this one, I wasn't sure how I would find it. On top of that, it was soon due back at the library, and I had 4 other library books calling my name desperately. I needn't have worried. This book definitely got me thinking and I like it when a book does that - when it stays in my mind for a long time after I actually finished reading it.

Her Fearful Symmetry is definitely a challenging book. Challenging not because of writing style or incoherent ideas. Challenging because it questions a lot of accepted conventions that you might have. At least it did for me. I remember feeling the same after reading The Time Traveler's Wife. I would say that is the only similarity between the two books, that and Audrey's beautiful writing style.

This book got me thinking about a lot of things, but primarily about the relationship between twins. I have never known any twins, so I can't say how accurate Her Fearful Symmetry is on this topic. But I like to believe she took an extreme case for telling her story. The twins, first Elspeth and Edwina, and then Edwina's twin daughters, Julia and Valentina, are highly inseparable. After being together for years, cracks are bound to appear. What I found interesting, was how each set of twins responded to the troubles in their tightly-woven fabric. When the reason for the estrangement of Elspeth and Edwina was revealed however, I was a bit disappointed, since that wasn't something I would expect to drive close sisters apart, not after being so close and sharing everything for almost 25 years. Maybe I am seeing it differently, but I expected something more severe. It just didn't seem a reasonable excuse to drive two twins apart, and worse, stay apart for years and not let any communications between the two parties. I almost got the sense the twist was included as an afterthought, like it didn't really fit in there. This was the only problem I had from this otherwise riveting read.

Another huge element of this book is the relationship between lovers. How far are you willing to go to keep your other half from finding some secret? Especially if that secret is built on a lie. Do you never wonder if your husband or boyfriend really loves you for who you are or for who he imagines you to be? I found this question come up many a time in the relationships of both sets of twins. It is tragic because it leads to a lot of doubts that could have been avoided. It is sad because no one knows what's true anymore, and something the twins' father, Jack, asks Robert towards the end gives an idea of the enormity of this predicament.

This whole story is set around a graveyard, and as expected, we have ghosts too. Elspeth returns as a ghost and is stuck in her apartment. Valentina especially gets to know her better, and in the process the two make some very unpleasant discoveries. I wouldn't go into that since it's a spoiler, but it's definitely a very strong issue and I think, unethical (even in a haunted world). The particular incident literally left me shell-shocked and, to use the expression, gasping for air. It's been a long time since a book did that to me. I've never been able to forgive the character responsible for it, but then Audrey Niffenegger's books don't really go in the directions you want them to. They more likely leave you with questions, tears sometimes, but in a strange way, satisfaction too, since they get you thinking more than if circumstances had taken a much "beaten" path.

There were some questions that I found unanswered as I read this book though, and one was, why only Valentina could see Elspeth's ghost (eventually), or even sense it, while the rest could only feel the coldness of her touch. It felt like a tantalizing mystery whose answer I waited for.

I love Audrey Niffenegger's writing style. That's something I enjoyed in The Time Traveler's Wife, as well, and I just found myself turning page after page, no matter how slow the story might be going. Not that the story is slow, but there were a few chapters, that I didn't care much for when I was reading. Like, one chapter showing Robert's nightly habit of sitting by the cemetery for a long time. Another one, detailing Martin's disease and how he behaves. After finishing the book though, I did realize they were important chapters since those attributes of the characters had great bearing on the story to follow.

As in The Time Traveler's Wife, the one thing I struggled with in this book was the ease with which the characters accepted that which is not normal. In the former, we didn't really have any one shriek with fright when a man came about saying he travels through time. I doubt I would sanely accept someone telling me that. In Her Fearful Symmetry, we have characters accepting that ghosts can exist. Sure, I know there are a lot of people who believe in ghosts. But wouldn't you still get that fierce creepy chill that emanates from your back? Here I just noticed acceptance. Maybe it is just as well, since the characters stay near a graveyard or work in it. But I would have loved it if someone just shrieked and ran out of the house, once, just once.

Overall, I loved this book and have a new respect for Audrey Niffenegger for writing about very unconventional issues. I think you need a great deal of courage to write some of the things she wrote about, since they are issues you will either be yay and nay for, and we readers can't very easily accept everything we read about, just because it is written in print. This one is a very different type of book from The Time Traveler's Wife, but nevertheless, a good one in its own right.(less)

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Oct 19, 2009

Kathy rated it

Like so many other readers, I was enchanted by The Time Traveler’s Wife. There was a willing suspension of disbelief on my part (which goes against my skeptical and cynical nature) but the story was sweet and engaging enough to pull it off. Not so much with Her Fearful Symmetry. Again, through at least the first 2/3 of the book, I was willing to suspend disbelief and go with the story. But then it just got ridiculous beyond the point where I enjoyed the story anymore.

Essentiall...more

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Nov 18, 2009

Molly McLeod rated it

· review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 12, 2009

Rachel rated it

· review of another edition

The fact that this book is titled after a line in one of my least favorite poems ever* should perhaps be a strike against it, but the title is quite fitting and somehow makes even more sense in this context than in Blake's use of it. This is the story of two sets of twins (hence the symmetry) who have an extremely odd system of relationships -- "system," because the story explores the highly varied and yet remarkably similar relationships between the four twins. To say too much about t...moreThe fact that this book is titled after a line in one of my least favorite poems ever* should perhaps be a strike against it, but the title is quite fitting and somehow makes even more sense in this context than in Blake's use of it. This is the story of two sets of twins (hence the symmetry) who have an extremely odd system of relationships -- "system," because the story explores the highly varied and yet remarkably similar relationships between the four twins. To say too much about these relationships would be to give away bits of the plot, but let me just say it was not at all what I expected, and the title word "fearful" is definitely apt.

While this story lacked (for me, at least) some of the magic of The Time Traveler's Wife, it is just as artfully written and explores the intricacies of relationships with the same deftness and insight as Niffenegger's earlier work. I would have liked to learn a bit more about Jessica and James, whose characters seemed to be placeholders and whose stories were never fully developed, but otherwise Niffenegger does a phenomenal job of developing a very intriguing cast of characters. Some of the traits are a bit extreme, perhaps -- there was certainly room for a bit more gray area on the black-and-white spectrum -- but overall the people seemed real and their actions were largely believable. (Whether or not you believe in ghosts, of course, remains up to you.)

One of the things that delighted me most about this story was that the text did not seem to "Americanized" -- the British slang remains intact, and the text makes reference to London life without apology to a clueless American audience. I'm by no means an expert here, so perhaps one of my non-American friends can chime in on the veracity of Niffenegger's use of British English, but hey, at least she spells "bollocks" correctly (*nudge* Shannon).

On the other hand, one of the things that delighted me least was how unabashedly straightforward all the characters were. Julia even points out that "American" may be a euphemism for "rude," so it seems that Niffenegger was conscious of how straightforward all the characters were, but it seems that perhaps she couldn't help herself and had to use this sort of brashness to progress the plot and explain some of the intricacies. Given that we see so many characters' perspectives in the narration, this seemed like a bit of a cop out.

I can't say the ending was totally a surprise -- I could see it coming a few chapters in advance, especially coming as it did on the heels of so many characters' questioning and extrapolating. And to be honest, I have to wonder how much of her idea for this story came from talking to Neil Gaiman as he was writing The Graveyard Book. There are some interesting parallels between the stories, and in some ways this seems to be almost a grown-up version of the same (not a bad thing, but still...). But overall, I loved the story, and very much enjoyed the fact that Niffenegger continues to be unconstrained by the strictures of reality as we know it. Her writing remains a delight.

* Tiger, tiger, burning bright / In the forests of the night, / What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry? William Blake "The Tyger" (1794).(less)

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Dec 11, 2009

David Jay rated it

This was difficult to put down but I deliberately tried to read slowly beause it was such a pleasure to read. Niffenegger is one of the finest contemporary writers and noone does longing and stymied love better than she does.

This book reminded me of "Time Traveler's Wife" as well as "The Lovely Bones." The stories center on an apartment building right off of Highgate Cemetery in London. One apartment belongs to Elspeth Noblin who dies on the first page of the book...more

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Sep 07, 2010

Marigold rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: most-unattractive-characters-ever, mysteries, set-in-england

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My initial reaction was that I really disliked this book. On reflection, I still really dislike it but for a different reason than I thought! I think what Niffenegger was trying to do here was present a group of deeply dysfunctional characters & put them in a ghost story & let nature take its course. Why anyone would want to read such a thing is beyond me, but there it is.

Elspeth Noblin dies & leaves her London flat, which overlooks Highgate Cemetery, to her nieces, 20-year-old Amer...more

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Feb 07, 2011

Natalie rated it

Shelves: fiction, magical-realism

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Time Traveler's Wife is among my favorite books ever.

Her Fearful Symmetry, however, was just pretty bad. I'll just make a list of reasons:

1. Niffenegger gets too caught up in describing every minute physical detail of Highgate, I guess because she works there in real life, and it's excruciating. I ended up skipping over most of these parts.

The parts about the history of the place were only moderately more interesting, but there was too much of it so t...more

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May 22, 2010

Nancy rated it

· review of another edition

"The Time Traveller's Wife" this is not; TTW was a poignant story about normal people trying to live in, and make sense of, an abnormal situation. In contrast, "Her Fearful Symmetry" has a shortage of even moderately well-adjusted, let alone likable, characters and a storyline that resulted in a significant number of eye rolls and sighs of "good grief" (simultaneously, on occasion) particularly in the first ~1/3. I thought the 2nd 1/3 was more enjoyable as the twi...more

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Nov 04, 2009

Kathleen Kelly rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone who likes a good ghost story..

Recommended to Kathleen by: several blogs I read...

Shelves: finished

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This story is a ghost story but not your typical malevolent ghost story, at least I didn't think so. The story started out at Elspeth's funeral, who died young of cancer and it started telling a bit about each character in attendance. Neighbors Martin, who has a crippling obsessive compulsive disorder and his wife Marjike who you get the feeling loves her husband very much, but is having difficulty with her husbands disorder as he will not leave the house and she is overwhelmed by the other iss...moreThis story is a ghost story but not your typical malevolent ghost story, at least I didn't think so. The story started out at Elspeth's funeral, who died young of cancer and it started telling a bit about each character in attendance. Neighbors Martin, who has a crippling obsessive compulsive disorder and his wife Marjike who you get the feeling loves her husband very much, but is having difficulty with her husbands disorder as he will not leave the house and she is overwhelmed by the other issues that he is compulsive about.Then there is Robert who was Elspeth's younger friend, lover who is absolutely devasted with Elspeth's death. Elspeth is entombed in a mausoleum in Highgate Cemetery in London right next to where these people live.

Julia and Valentina are 20 year old twins who both had graduated high school and attempted to go to college but both dropped out and really not doing anything with their lives such as getting jobs or even going back to school. So they stay living with the parents in Chicago. The were also very attached to each other and each did the same thing and wore the same clothes etc.

Elspeth and her twin sister Edie (who is the twins mother) have not spoken for 20 years. I do not want to go into the why because that would give some of the story away. Elspeth left her flat in her will to the Julia and Valentina with the requirement that they live in the flat for one year.

As the girls get settled in the flat the ghost of Elspeth starts showing herself to the girls in odd ways until she is strong enough to show herself completely. It appears that she is not able to leave the flat and the girls are the only ones to see Elspeth in her ghostly form. It also appears that there is a motive to her showing herself to the girls but again I do not want to spoil the story. Although for one fact that I never realized could happen as the twins were mirror images of each other, Julias heart was where it was supposed to be and Valentina's heart is on the right side. Valentina also suffers from asthma and Julia does not.

The story goes back and forth between the characters but not a lot regarding the girls parents. It focuses a lot on Martin and his obsessive behaviors and how these said behaviors affect his marriage. Robert not only lives next to the cemetary but also works at Highgate Cemetary doing tours there. He was doing a dissertation on the people buried there. He would give tours during the day and at night he would sneak inside. Karl Marx, George Eliot, and Lizzie Siddal are a few of the Victorians buried at Highgate.

All in all I liked the story, although I was not crazy about the ending at all, it kind of made me uncomfortable and was not what I was expecting at all. I still would recommend this book if you like a good eerie ghost story.(less)

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Oct 06, 2009

Margo Kelly rated it

Oh my - this is the BEST book I have read in AGES! If I could give it more stars in the rating I would. Having just finished this book, I'm having flash-backs to the "Women in Literature" classes I took at the University of Puget Sound. I loved those classes because we would debate/discuss the significance of women and their relationships with other women and with men. I wish I could have one of "those" discussions regarding this book!

This book is excellent on so ...more

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Jan 06, 2010

Amy rated it

Shelves: un-put-downable

Update-1/6/10. I'm amending my review of this book, and making a new rule that I will not do reviews for at least a day once I've finished. What changed for me here was a lack of connection with the characters. I can't rate this as five stars because I really, in retrospect, didn't like any of them all that well or how they behaved.

I awaited this novel with eager anticipation and read it so fast, I will have to revisit it. I hate plot summaries, that is what Amazon and book ja...moreUpdate-1/6/10. I'm amending my review of this book, and making a new rule that I will not do reviews for at least a day once I've finished. What changed for me here was a lack of connection with the characters. I can't rate this as five stars because I really, in retrospect, didn't like any of them all that well or how they behaved.

I awaited this novel with eager anticipation and read it so fast, I will have to revisit it. I hate plot summaries, that is what Amazon and book jackets are for, so let me synopsize. London, Highgate Cemetery, Twins, Love, Death, OCD, Grief, Ghosts. Again, Niffenegger's theme is love. There are two love stories at the heart of this novel: the love of twins, and love that is cracked, but not broken.

At first, I thought there was a third: love that is broken by death. But as I write this review, having finished the novel a mere half an hour ago, I have to take it back. All of the lines of the novel point out love that is changed by death, but never broken.

Again, Niffenegger turns our expectations of a ghost story and a love story inside out, and leaves this reader with a new perspective on familiar concepts. In particular, the title, which I puzzled over for the vast majority of the book, became completely clear in the end. The characters are rich and well-drawn, each was an individual, and vividly portrayed. As with The Time Travelers Wife, each character makes moral choices that make sense within the narrative, but one has to question in the broader sense.

However, it is this complexity of choice that has fascinated me about Neffenegger's writing. She makes the fantastical so real, and her characters so clear, that how her characters react is completely understandable. In short, I loved this book almost as much as The Time Travelers Wife, my second favorite book of all time. In presenting a view of life beyond the veil it reminded me of The Lovely Bones, as a new take on what happens after you die. As a story of twins, I gained insight into a world that Isn't part of my experience. As a novel of love, I am reminded: love is never perfect, love changes over time, but it is seldom broken.(less)

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Oct 13, 2009

*Christie* rated it

Shelves: fiction

I'm vascilating between three and four stars. I lean towards three only because The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my favorite books of all time and so my expectations were high.

What a creepy, twisted book! So fun! This is the story of enmeshed twins who live in their aunt's haunted flat in London. I especially enjoyed the sub-plot of Martin and Marijke. I think my favorite part had to be the history of Highgate Cemetary that was woven in throghout the book. Also, the poetry ...more

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Jul 27, 2009

Jackie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, i-own-it

Just some thoughts: I loved this novel...but in a completely different way than I love The Time Traveler's Wife. I wasn't sure what to expect so I tried not to have any expectations, which is exactly the attitude to have going into this book. It has what now seems to be Niffenegger's style of writing that's smart & funny & quirky but somehow all seems to come together easily. It has a few curveballs, so don't bother reading ahead (like I did...only to confuse myself until I read straight thro...more

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Oct 06, 2009

Lori rated it

Shelves: fiction, signed-by-author, arc-reviewers-copy

Many thanks to Regal Literary for sending me an ARC, and also to Audrey for accepting my invitation to appear here for a Q&A session!!

I don't think there is a more fitting time of year for curling up with this novel - Chilly mornings, Damp afternoons, wrapped in a blanket watching the leaves change color and fall to the ground....

It's a ghost story but so much more.

It's a story about transition, about love, about separation, about strength, about deciet, abou...more

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Feb 04, 2011

Mrs. Bowers rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Let me be clear: I am perfectly willing to partake in a suspension of reality while reading fiction. Vampires and werewolves battling for the love of one woman? Sure! A guy with a genetic disorder that causes him to travel through time? Of course! Ghosts, paranormal activity, and specters? Why not? Thus, it is not the subject matter of this novel that causes it to be so unforgivably unbelievable. It is the fact that virtually every single person you come to know in the first two-thirds of Her Fe...moreLet me be clear: I am perfectly willing to partake in a suspension of reality while reading fiction. Vampires and werewolves battling for the love of one woman? Sure! A guy with a genetic disorder that causes him to travel through time? Of course! Ghosts, paranormal activity, and specters? Why not? Thus, it is not the subject matter of this novel that causes it to be so unforgivably unbelievable. It is the fact that virtually every single person you come to know in the first two-thirds of Her Fearful Symmetry behaves in completely uncharacteristic -- and therefore unacceptable -- ways in the last third.

The book officially careens downhill when Valentina comes up with the most ridiculous plan in the world: in order to gain an identity that is different from her twin, Julia, she must die and then be resurrected. Um, what? That's the ONLY way this can possibly be accomplished? What about dyeing your hair, wearing different clothes (for a change), moving to a different city? Staunch Niffenegger fans may argue that such things simply weren't options for meek little Valentina, but I find it VERY difficult to believe that a girl who can hit her sister (which, by the way, is never fully explained) just can't bring herself to pack a suitcase and go off to college.

To add to the lunacy, everyone on earth actually agrees to this plan, which seems even more insane once Elspeth tries and fails with the Kitten. The image of Robert stealthily lugging a floppy dead girl back to his flat just sealed the deal for me; and once Elspeth inhabits Valentina's body -- which, if done differently, would have made for a pretty cool story -- I was infuriated. Almost every major character was or became incredibly selfish, which made me feel cheated: I'm supposed to care MORE about them as the story goes on, not less.

By the end, everyone is left in shambles for no reason, except for Valentina, who shrinks her ghostly self into miniature and flies away on a crow. Oh yes, and Martin and Marijke, although their story seemed implausible by the end, too. Martin can't make it to Valentina's funeral, but pretty much the next day he hops in a cab and takes a train to Amsterdam? What is going ON here?! And don't even get me started about the predictable Edie/Elspeth switch, which became too complicated for even the author to keep straight once their real names were revealed.

When Robert leaves Elspeth at the end, even THAT rang disappointingly false. I mean, understandably, he can't bear to be around his Dead-Lover-Inhabiting-the-Body-of-Her-Secret-Daughter-Who-Robert-Also-Found-Kind-of-Attractive; but somehow, he was not bothered by this enough to avoid sleeping with her for a few months and subsequently knocking her up. The end ruined the sweetest moment in the book, which happened in the very beginning -- Robert, so consumed by grief, wraps himself around Elspeth's body in the hospital. That's real, raw emotion, and that tenderness is what the reader wants to hold on to; thus, it just doesn't feel like a triumph when Robert leaves her, especially after the rest of the convoluted story. If this book had ended on page 2, I would have been more satisfied.(less)

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Aug 06, 2010

Rhonda rated it

Shelves: modern-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was somewhat anxious to read this work having enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife and was immediately reminded of how beautifully she wrote. The opening scenes of Elspeth's death were touching, elegant and oddly reaffirming. I expected to be on the verge of quite a wonderful tale.
However when we came to the American side of the story, the description of the twins was more than just a bit odd. It was especially lovely when they simultaneously give the finger to the television when George ...moreI was somewhat anxious to read this work having enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife and was immediately reminded of how beautifully she wrote. The opening scenes of Elspeth's death were touching, elegant and oddly reaffirming. I expected to be on the verge of quite a wonderful tale.
However when we came to the American side of the story, the description of the twins was more than just a bit odd. It was especially lovely when they simultaneously give the finger to the television when George Bush is on. Just what this story needs: another dotty liberal-assed attitude towards things! Still all in all it made me laugh and I couldn't help wondering whether either of these girls had ever looked in the mirror: they seemed like a bad scene from a horror movie about zombies.
I had a feeling that the author was attempting to explain something but in a word, all it was was creepy. When one of the twins gets her father a cup of coffee, I was half expecting it to be something like the following: "She set the coffee down quietly in front of her father and waited as he took a sip. It would be only a few minutes before the poison would take effect."

Had I been an editor with this book, I would have had no trouble at all taking pages by the dozens out of this book. Perhaps this willy-nilly approach is considered artistic, but all I could think that it was just confused. Finally when I discovered that it was going to be a ghost story, I almost gave up reading it. But, after all, Henry James wrote ghost stories so maybe this would get better.
In fairness, one of the sub plots was very well written indeed, with a very detailed description of OCD. One doesn't find much out about Martin except for the surface issues, but he is by far the most human of all the characters in the book. In fact, I think the author would have been better off skipping the utterly silly and twisted ghost story and sticking to the wife leaving the brilliant man with OCD. I also think that he would have pills for panic attacks, even if he didn't want his OCD pills (because they ostensibly made him impotent.) She did make a slight error, however, in that he was an expert in old languages and she had him translating something Assyrian in Aramaic (by which I assume she meant Syriac.) The language of the Assyrians was, predominantly, Akkadian. I see that there is some neo-Syriac, so maybe I should give her a pass on that.
By the time the twins got to London, I didn’t like them any better, but the relationship started to change and I thought that certainly this was a good thing. However it then proceeded to run around in circles, everyone missing big clues and Robert the pathetic whining do-nothing cemetery docent, for some reason, won’t read the journals which Elspeth left him. God help us but that might make things clear! Personally I would have been gratified because that alone would have knocked about 200 pages off the turmoil.
All was not horrid, however because the descriptions of Highgate cemetery were simply wonderful and one felt like he/she were there. Each of my few visits to London has always missed this treasure mostly because when I suggest it, my companions look at me as if I am a ghoul. Still with this book, I get the feeling that at least I have been there, not completely but partially.
The really big issues, besides the twins living in the flat next to the cemetery which their Aunt Elspeth left them who happens to be a ghost locked inside said flat is that one of the twins wants to have her own life and naturally the other doesn’t want to let her go. Briefly a sensible option is discussed, like getting the solicitor to divide the estate and then going off on one’s own. But what kind of story would that be? Instead the twin decides that she must kill herself to get away from the other. Ummm, what happened to dividing the estate and moving elsewhere? In addition, Elsbeth is really the twins' mother! Gee, what this story needs is further complication.
When Elspeth the Ghost kills the kitten, I admit that I almost lost it and gave up on the book. Of course she is so sorry and all, but really! You can kind of see this is going to lead to one of the geniuses thinking: “Hey! Let’s do this with a real person!” It was so silly I only continued because I wanted to know what other absurdities awaited me. When she takes over her own daughter's body, I only wanted to get to the end.
The only part I liked toward the end was when Martin overcomes his OCD through taking drugs which one of the twins feeds him and goes to visit his estranged wife. Frankly I think that should have been the whole book. I kept hoping that there would be some sort of parallel with the other story but none was made.
I wanted to give this book 3 stars but just couldn’t do it. The author writes beautifully but the whole thing was so disjointed and confused that by the end I really didn’t care that Robert the whiner had finished his thesis or not. The fact that he leaves his reincarnated wife and new baby just seemed equally incongruous.
Please do not bother reading this!(less)

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Nov 21, 2009

Malcolm rated it

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
--William Blake, "The Tyger"

When an acclaimed author (Audrey Niffenegger) takes a phrase from an inscrutable poem ("The Tyger"), readers (such as myself) are apt to expect a great story. Without a doubt Niffenegger's prose is elegant, her place descriptions (London and Highgate Cemetery) are exceptional, and her intricate plot h...moreTyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
--William Blake, "The Tyger"

When an acclaimed author (Audrey Niffenegger) takes a phrase from an inscrutable poem ("The Tyger"), readers (such as myself) are apt to expect a great story. Without a doubt Niffenegger's prose is elegant, her place descriptions (London and Highgate Cemetery) are exceptional, and her intricate plot has great promise.

That promise is not fulfilled.

Niffenegger speaks of ghosts that dissipate in to the ether, so to speak, because they haven't been dead long enough to figure out how to keep themselves together and harness their intent. I like this viewpoint within the story. Unfortunately, it also describes the story.

We are introduced to several sets of twins who, as it turns out, are so focused on being twins that they (in one case) do fearful and silly things and (in another case) are relatively boring. In each set, one twin wants freedom and the other wants the status quo. Interesting? Could have been, but it wasn't.

At best, most of the characters were totally dysfunctional with the possible exception (oddly enough) of the man with OCD who lived in the flat upstairs, up above the American twins who come to London when their aunt (Espeth) dies and leaves them an apartment up above Robert who works as a volunteer at the adjoining Highgate Cemetery. He was Espeth's lover both before and after she died.

Like ghosts without sufficient practice and power to organize themselves and enjoy the afterlife (with or without haunting the living), the plot becomes weaker and weaker as the novel goes on until on the final pages it evaporates altogether. Yes, there's a grim resolution to it all, but it's a weak one and we no longer care.

I suspect the author fell in love with the cemetery and wanted to write a story about it. Naturally, the dead came to mind. But they weren't strong enough to frighten us or make us care about the symmetry.(less)

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Oct 07, 2009

Amy rated it

this book is like an episode of the twilight zone on crack combined with a shakespeare tragedy.

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Sep 24, 2010

Sarah rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like 2 likes

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Jan 31, 2011

Michael rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

Let me start with saying that "Her Fearful Symmetry" is not a bad book. In fact I think one of its main problems might be having to live up to "The Time-Travelers Wife", an outstanding book that set the bar for judging Niffenegger's following work really high.

That said, I liked it. It wasn't great, but has an interesting cast of charming and often somewhat eccentric characters, which are mostly quite likeable and got me as a reader interested in their stories. My ...more

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Nov 27, 2011

Beth rated it

Recommends it for: Nobody

Shelves: audio-book-read, library-book

This book is utterly contrived, though to be fair, all fiction is (it's just done much more subtly when it's well done). The entire time I was reading it I couldn't help imagining Niffenegger sitting down to write it, thinking to herself, "Hmm, how can I write another book that my readers will just looove as much as The Time Traveler’s Wife? Oooh, I know! I'll make it about two sets of twins, one set with a mysterious past. And it will be set in London and Lake Forest - everybody loves thos...more

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Feb 07, 2011

Kathy rated it

Shelves: fiction, hmmm, mystery

hmmmm… a very unsatisfying book… I like happily ever afters, and nobody quite had a happily ever after…

Easy characters = Martin and Marijke… after 25 years of worsening OCD, Marijke leaves him for Amsterdam… And mostly we see from Martin’s point of view – how he increasingly tries to control his environment with his washing & counting, etc… and yet their love is quite evident… in how he thinks of her, and understands… and how she works at making a new life, but is still connected… a ...morehmmmm… a very unsatisfying book… I like happily ever afters, and nobody quite had a happily ever after…

Easy characters = Martin and Marijke… after 25 years of worsening OCD, Marijke leaves him for Amsterdam… And mostly we see from Martin’s point of view – how he increasingly tries to control his environment with his washing & counting, etc… and yet their love is quite evident… in how he thinks of her, and understands… and how she works at making a new life, but is still connected… a year after she leaves, on her birthday, they have an interesting birthday dinner where she goes to a restaurant with her cell, and they talk on the phone as if they are dining together… Julia, who befriends Martin, gives him medicine, in the guise of vitamins (though he is not fooled, but want s to do this so that he can go to Amsterdam)… and he does get better, and ultimately joins his wife …

Edie & Elspeth… twins… Elspeth was more insecure, and when she thought her fiancé was interested in her sister, she convinced her sister to trade places and test him… and when Elspeth, as Edie, gains his attention (and yes, he knew, but he played along because it angered him)… but in a drunken night has sex with Edie… and she gets pregnant… Elspeth marries him (using Edie’s name), but sends pregnant Edie home with him to have the babies, and then when the babies are 4 months old, they trade places again, and Elspeth (as Edie) raises the babies, but will not speak to the real Edie again… their story lines ends on the plane back to america after Valentina’s funeral, when dad calls his wife Elspeth… because he in fact knew it all along… and Elspeth cries for the 1st time in 20+ years… and they seem to have peace.

Edie, as Elspeth, has a lover (who is younger) Robert… they love deeply, and he tenderly cares for her as she dies… and can’t let go once she is gone… There’s a touching scene, the last day before the twins come to live in the flat, where he gathers her things, and masturbates on her bed, while she (as a ghost) watches… when she touches him, he just feels cold – and he struggles in trying to decide if her ghost is there or not.

When Edie (as Elspeth) dies of leukemia, she wills her London flat to her daughters… saying they must live in the flat for a year, and that their parents may not go into the flat… Julia and Valentina come to London… They are just 21, and Julia has been subtly controlling Valentina to stay her constant companion… Valentina tries to make plans for her own life, but Julia cannot tolerate it…

Edie (Elspeth) slowly becomes self aware in her flat… and contacts Robert, Julia & Valentina… they communicate with oijia board and psychic writing… and Valentina can see her…

And when Edie, when playing with the kitten, scoops his soul out, and returns it to the body, Valentina comes up with a plan to separate from Julia…

And this is where the story falls apart for me… there are many ways for Valentina to accomplish her goals, but she chooses suicide…. And involves Robert & Edie… she wants her body restored to her soul after her funeral… with Robert preserving the body and bringing it to the apartment, and Edie holding onto her soul and placing it back into the body… ewwww… Robert (and Edie) are quite conflicted with it… but do so…. And when it is time for the soul to be returned, it doesn’t work… the soul is not self aware enough… so Edie decides to put her soul into the body… and though she doesn't consciously admit to it, there are clues that she knew this is the only way it could end up... she knew she would get a body again... her own, young body... and she & Robert try to make a go of it, they move, she has a baby, he finishes his dissertation… but Robert disconnects, and cannot live with what was done to Valentina… and leaves without a word (unsatisfactory… what happens to him?)

Valentina and Julia reconnect in the flat, as Valentina gains form… and Julia starts to date Martin’s son… and Julia helps Valentina to leave the apartment, to join the ghosts in the cemetery next door, where Valentina is free and happy…. Hmmm… unsatisfactory… she dies, they disconnect… and this time when Valentina gains her freedom, Julia is okay? Hmmmm

It wasn’t just that not everyone has a happily ever after story… and it’s not just that it isn’t reasonable to believe a soul can reanimate someone else’s body… even if it were possible, it was not the intelligent way for Valentina to get what she needed – it hurt herself, her parents, her sister, and her aunt, for no good reason.
(less)

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Oct 21, 2011

Secnud rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Its not the Time Travelers Wife. Perhaps that is is the only reason why this book is so disappointing?
But..The characters are not believable, (or should I say 'are UNBELIEVABLE!!') beyond a point and I mean that literally for there is a point in the book where the plot takes quite a nasty turn and leads the reader through some cheap thrills that do not cultivate a pleasurable reading sense. In spite of the outlandish them of TTW, it was somehow grounded and magical. This book fails in that...more

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Feb 25, 2010

Sue rated it

· review of another edition

I don't even know where to start with this book. The fact that it was set in and near Highgate Cemetery in London gave it a creepy, gothic, horror movie kind of quality. One of the main characters is the ghost of the late Elspeth Noblin. The description of the twin sisters, Julia and Valentina, portrays them as almost ghost-like as well. They are whispy, pointless, lackluster, colorless young women who have no identity outside their twin-ness. The upstairs neighbor is a recluse who suffers f...more

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Mar 15, 2010

Suzanne rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Ok, so here comes my review/synopsis....

The book opens up with Elspeth dying of cancer. Her boyfriend Robert is there with her and he like cuddles up with her dead body which is kind of weird. But you can tell he is obviously very in love with her and does not know how he is going to go on.

Meanwhile, the story flashes to Edie, who is Elspeth's twin sister. It talks about how she goes to this remote post office like once a month, gets a letter, reads it, then burns it. I g...more

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Jan 17, 2010

Alison Whittington rated it

A heartbreaking tragedy of a story with few bright spots, but still worth reading, particularly on a rainy day with a cup of tea.

I read mixed reviews of Her Fearful Symmetry before I finally decided to take the risk and read it. The negative reviews ultimately helped my appreciation of the book, because I wasn't expecting the perfect execution of The Time Traveler's Wife - so I wasn't disappointed by that lack.

I was surprised to find that I actually liked it. It's not a ...moreA heartbreaking tragedy of a story with few bright spots, but still worth reading, particularly on a rainy day with a cup of tea.

I read mixed reviews of Her Fearful Symmetry before I finally decided to take the risk and read it. The negative reviews ultimately helped my appreciation of the book, because I wasn't expecting the perfect execution of The Time Traveler's Wife - so I wasn't disappointed by that lack.

I was surprised to find that I actually liked it. It's not a badly written book, just not at all like The Time Traveler's Wife in style or plot. In fact, if I hadn't know the author's name while reading, I would have guessed that it was a book by Tracy Chevalier or Joanne Harris, due to the dreamlike pace, the strong feminine issues, the weight of the past, and the identity issues at the heart of the book.

It took me a while to really get into it, though. The book starts out vaguely and slowly, weighed down by heavy hints of darkness and drama to come, and an introduction of the twins Julia and Valentina that was so detailed it felt contrived, like a frozen Victorian painting, rather than a story moving forward. In fact, all of the characters felt cardboard-like at first, and I didn't feel sympathy for them at all until I was well into the book.

About halfway through, however, the book picked up pace and started speeding up, with a few different surprising twists and turns before it finally ended almost abruptly.

I wish the first half had been condensed and the second half expanded, but that's my only real complaint. The darkness and tragedy in the book and the lack of what we might think of as happy endings (I don't think that's a spoiler) aren't flaws, and the sadness I felt at the end, tinged with a hint of sweetness, is evidence of the way I finally connected with the story.

I think that in order to truly enjoy this book, readers must forget The Time Travelers Wife and let Her Fearful Symmetry stand on its own. And I highly recommend that rainy day and cup of tea.(less)

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About Audrey Niffenegger

Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963 in South Haven, Michigan) is a writer and artist. She is also a professor in the Interdisciplinary Book Arts MFA Program at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts.

Niffenegger's debut novel, The Time Traveler's Wife (2003), was a national bestseller. The Time Traveler's Wife is an unconventional love story that centers on a man...more

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