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Her Fearful Symmetry

Audrey Niffenegger (Goodreads Author)

3.26 · Rating details · 92,497 ratings · 12,582 reviews

Audrey Niffenegger's spectacularly compelling second novel opens with a letter that alters the fate of every character. Julia and Valentina Poole are semi-normal American twenty-year-olds with seemingly little interest in college or finding jobs. Their attachment to one another is intense. One morning the mailman delivers a thick envelope to their house in the suburbs of C ...more

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Hardcover, 406 pages

Published September 29th 2009 by Scribner

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Mar 21, 2013 Scarlet rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: put-me-to-sleep, disappointing, books-i-own

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

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Sep 07, 2010 Marigold rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: ridiculous-twins, mysteries, most-unattractive-characters-ever, set-in-england, fiction-2000-2010

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 American twins J ...more

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Nov 20, 2009 Will Byrnes rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

Her Fearful Symmetry is a Victorian ghost story set in contemporary London, fittingly in and near a graveyard. Elspeth Noblin has died. Neighbor, friend and lover Robert, who is working on a thesis about the cemetery, is bereft. In her will Elspeth left her apartment and almost all her belongings to twin nieces Julia and Valentina, but attached odd conditions. They must live in the flat for a year and their parents may not enter the premises. After the 21-year-olds move in, Elspeth’s presence em ...more

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Oct 30, 2009 David Jay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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 and bequeaths the apartment to ...more

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Sep 23, 2009 Athira (Reading on a Rainy Day) rated it really liked it

Shelves: f-literary, f-fantasy-scifi, format-print, 2010, fiction, source-library

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 Symmetry is definitely a cha 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 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 partner really loves you for who you are or for who they imagine 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 suspicion 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. ...more

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Oct 11, 2009 Kathy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

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.

Essentially a ghost story, ...more

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Nov 05, 2009 Malcolm rated it liked it · review of another edition

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 has great promise.

That promise is not fulfilled.

Niffenegg ...more

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Dec 03, 2017 James rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Audrey Niffenegger’s ‘Her Fearful Symmetry’ is for the most part, a good, solid old fashioned ghost story with a contemporary setting. The backdrop to the novel, and what to an extent becomes the dominant character in the story, is London’s Highgate Cemetery – which is paradoxically an obvious but inspired and perfect choice. It’s a fascinating, hugely atmospheric and wonderful place to visit and is ideal as the setting for a haunting story of the supernatural such as this one.

Audrey Niffenegge Audrey Niffenegger’s ‘Her Fearful Symmetry’ is for the most part, a good, solid old fashioned ghost story with a contemporary setting. The backdrop to the novel, and what to an extent becomes the dominant character in the story, is London’s Highgate Cemetery – which is paradoxically an obvious but inspired and perfect choice. It’s a fascinating, hugely atmospheric and wonderful place to visit and is ideal as the setting for a haunting story of the supernatural such as this one.

Audrey Niffenegger worked as a tour guide at Highgate Cemetery whilst researching the novel and successfully conveys the feel, atmosphere and history of the Cemetery throughout. This provides the novel with foundation of authenticity on which to base a story which clearly requires the reader to display a certain degree of suspended disbelief. There are nods to Dickens throughout, echoes of Susan Hill and notably (to an extent) Mary Shelley.

‘Her Fearful Symmetry’ – is Niffenegger’s second novel and is a far less showy or flashy affair than its predecessor, the hugely commercially successful – ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’. As a whole ‘Her Fearful Symmetry’ is better written thought out and delivers a stronger narrative as well as a more satisfying story than ‘Time Traveler’s Wife’. Neither does it feel as self-consciously clever as its predecessor. Clearly there are some plot contrivances, implausibilities and improbabilities to ‘Fearful Symmetry’ – yet somehow Niffenegger manages to get the story as a whole to successfully hang together.

Niffenegger also manages to avoid creating what could have been a very clichéd, overdone, predictable and tired ‘contemporary’ ghost story – especially considering the basic elements here – identical/mirror twins, Highgate Cemetery, a grieving widower, an inheritance with strict conditions etc, etc. – But somehow, avoid it she does and in the process delivers a strong, convincing and compelling story. It is an altogether gentler story than ‘Time Traveler’s Wife’ and all the better for that.

‘
...more

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Oct 13, 2009 Teresa rated it it was ok

I read Niffenegger's first novel before the days of Goodreads; 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 ...more

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Dec 15, 2020 Zoeytron rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: public-library

The bond between twins is fascinating. The sameness, and the differences between them. Two sets of twins, mothers and daughters. One pair estranged from each other, the other pair closer than close. A London apartment overlooking a cemetery. The comfort of counting, trying to see music, and ideas that are concealed by other ideas. Is this a weird twins story, or a beautiful ghostly tale? It's very different. I liked it, but it didn't blow my socks off. One thing is for certain, I will n ...more

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Oct 06, 2009 Margo Kelly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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 many different layers and levels ...more

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Mar 02, 2009 Jackie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009

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 through ...more

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Aug 21, 2009 Kim rated it it was ok · review of another edition

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 more forgiving if I hadn ...more

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Sep 04, 2009 Wealhtheow rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

When Elspeth dies, she leaves her papers to her boyfriend and her flat to her twin's children, the twin sisters Julia and Valentina. J&V are very pale, very slim, and although they're nearly 21, very unformed. They have no friends, no lovers, little education, and no interests besides watching tv together. They are astoundingly boring.

Meanwhile, their upstairs neighbor is struggling with OCD and a passionate love for his wife, who has left him because of it. And their downstairs neighbor is Rob When Elspeth dies, she leaves her papers to her boyfriend and her flat to her twin's children, the twin sisters Julia and Valentina. J&V are very pale, very slim, and although they're nearly 21, very unformed. They have no friends, no lovers, little education, and no interests besides watching tv together. They are astoundingly boring.

Meanwhile, their upstairs neighbor is struggling with OCD and a passionate love for his wife, who has left him because of it. And their downstairs neighbor is Robert, Elspeth's grieving boyfriend. And their own flat seems to be haunted...

Niffenegger has a beautiful writing style, and her characters always feel precise and real to me. She knows the specifics of their lives--what kind of wine they like, how they brush their teeth, what they feel at 3 in the morning. She knows every inch of their environments, and describes them with a casual fluidity. But although every other character felt real and probable to me, I never bought Julia and Valentina. For one thing, they flop around in their lives like limp fish. For another, they are SO DUMB that they even infect other characters with stupidity. (view spoiler) I think Niffenegger was trying to write a book about codependency and secrets, but the secrets were so dumb (view spoiler) and we were mostly told, not shown, the codependency. There are kernels of a much better novel in this book (Robert and the cemetary, or Martin and Marjike), but they are overtaken by the gothic grand gestures of the two sets of twins. ...more

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May 25, 2020 Kerri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I got caught up in this book very quickly. It's slow-paced in some ways, but then intense, shocking things happen quite frequently. Julia and Valentina are mirror twins, completely consumed with and by each other. I've noticed this representation of twins, especially those who are identical or mirror image twins features quite often in books and films. I find it interesting, the idea that these two people are so in sync with each other that they find it challenging to let anyone else in, though I got caught up in this book very quickly. It's slow-paced in some ways, but then intense, shocking things happen quite frequently. Julia and Valentina are mirror twins, completely consumed with and by each other. I've noticed this representation of twins, especially those who are identical or mirror image twins features quite often in books and films. I find it interesting, the idea that these two people are so in sync with each other that they find it challenging to let anyone else in, though I have no idea if this is an actual reality for real-life twins or merely a persistent literary trope.
Valentina was my preferred twin, though Julia had moments where I managed to appreciate her too. I tend to favour the quiet characters over the loud and bolshie ones! The twins mother is Elspeth's twin sister and there a BIG SECRET which is the reason why they no longer speak.

Living above them is a man called Martin, whose OCD has completely taken over his life, leaving him unable to leave his apartment, consumed by rituals, many involving cleaning and counting. His friendship with Julia was one the the highlights of the book for me, and why I grew to like Julia despite finding her annoying.
Living below then is Robert, their dead aunts lover who spent a year anxiously awaiting the twins arrival, and now avoids them/stalks them.
Also, their aunt Elspeth remains in the flat, a ghost who is still learning the ropes. Valentina is much more in tune with her presence than Julia is.

The first two parts of the novel were hypnotic, with the twins exploring London, watching TV, not really doing much. Elspeth practices being a ghost, her progress painstakingly at first. I enjoyed all this, the information about the neighbouring graveyard, Valentina's growing desperation to escape her twin - it felt almost dreamlike and was also clearly building toward something.
(view spoiler)
I appreciated that this novel was so different to what I had expected. I half-figured out the BIG SECRET but was off track with a few aspects. Edie and Elspeth's twin relationship was in some ways more interesting than that of Julia and Valentina's because something severed it, almost completely. Julia seems to fear the idea of this happening more than anything, while Valentina can't help but wish for it. (view spoiler)
Despite my concern over much of Robert's conduct, I found him a likeable character. I especially enjoyed his nighttime wandering of the cemetery. Highgate cemetery sounds fascinating. Robert's tours were brilliant - the way Victorian's treated death is incredibly elaborate. I enjoyed the glimpses that this novel gave into some of these practices.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Oct 12, 2009 Rachel rated it really liked it

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 these relat 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 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). ...more

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Feb 25, 2010 Sue rated it did not like it

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 from ...more

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Aug 24, 2009 Lori rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, signed-by-author, has-ghosts-in-it, 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, about abandonment. It's hopeful, and sad ...more

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Nov 08, 2009 Magill rated it it was ok

"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 twins became more individual, Rober ...more

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Oct 07, 2009 Christie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 references in the b ...more

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Oct 03, 2009 Amy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 jackets are for, so 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 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. ...more

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Oct 01, 2009 Jeannine rated it did not like it

Shelves: fiction

Such a disappointment.

While I certainly didn't expect this to be a clone of The Time Traveler's Wife (and I hate when authors write the same novels over and over, like, say, Jodi Picoult), this book was exponentially "less than" TTTW.

The main characters (Julia and Valentina the twins, Robert Fanshaw, Elspeth) were not likable or warm. I had some sympathy for Valentina and her desire to split from her overbearing twin, but the scheme concocted to acheive this was over the top (even more over the ...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Exina rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ghosts, no-hea, disappointment, creepy

Her Fearful Symmetry is seriously creepy. I read it because I really enjoyed the author’s debut novel. But this book is far from enjoyable: the characters are despicable (all of them), the storyline is nonsensical (lots of whys and hows and whats), and it’s just creepy.

...more

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Oct 07, 2009 Amy rated it liked it · review of another edition

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

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Sep 29, 2009 Molly Magro rated it it was ok

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

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Dec 12, 2009 Moira Russell rated it did not like it

Shelves: underwhelmed, 2010-50-new-books-challenge

I am now BITTER LIKE A BITTER, BITTER THING that this book, however panned it was, got its author a zillion-dollar advance and huge print run, while Peter S. Beagle's A Fine and Private Place, a wonderful book that actually combines the supernatural and the natural world beautifully, is still barely known. Pah. ...more

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Sep 12, 2009 Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: People Fascinated by Death

Shelves: read-in-2015, worth-reading-again-and-again, disturbing, mental-illness, bizarre, amazing, read-in-2020, read-in-2010, spring2020

She said, "I know what it's like to be dead.
I know what it is to be sad."
And she's making me feel like I've never been born.
-The Beatles

Well, this was an interesting and rather weird book in my opinion - which is why I'm giving it 5 Amazing stars! On my second reading, I saw happy endings for most of the characters. I listened to this on audio so I can't spell some of the character's names :-)

*SPOILER ALERT*
(view spoiler) She said, "I know what it's like to be dead.
I know what it is to be sad."
And she's making me feel like I've never been born.
-The Beatles

Well, this was an interesting and rather weird book in my opinion - which is why I'm giving it 5 Amazing stars! On my second reading, I saw happy endings for most of the characters. I listened to this on audio so I can't spell some of the character's names :-)

*SPOILER ALERT*
(view spoiler)

Favorite Passages:

"We've got to prepare. We don't want to be like those dumb Americans who go to Europe and only eat at McDonald's and speak English real loud instead of the local language."
"But they speak English in England."
"You know what I mean, Mouse. We need to study."
_______

The invention of the Internet had allowed Martin to abandon the outside world. Or rather, the Internet had enabled him to relegate that world to the role of support system for his world, the one that flourished inside his flat.
_______

"You are like a bad pet," she'd told him. "You're like a human squirrel that never goes out, that just sits in the flat all day and all night, licking the same spot. I want to be able to open the windows. I want to walk into my own flat without having to put bags on my feet."
_______

Everything in the room seemed to have been drained of colour. Julia wondered if the colour had all collected somewhere else; perhaps it was in some closet, and when they opened the door it would all flood back into the objects it had deserted. She thought of Sleeping Beauty, and the palace, still for a hundred years full of motionless courtiers.
_______

Days passed in a blur of Neal's Yard, Harrod's, Buckingham Palace, Portobello Road, Westminster Abbey and Leicester Square. Robert sensed the twins' determination: they seemed to be circling London's most public spheres, looking for a rabbit hole into the real city underneath. They were trying to construct a personal London for themselves out of the Rough Guide and Time Out.
_______

She thought, He's insane and I understand him. But maybe he isn't completely crazy. Like a sort of lucid craziness, like a dream.
_______

"Don't you think it's time we started having our own lives?" Oh, God, just let go, Julia
"We do! We have our own lives together - " Valentina!
_______

"Help, I'm dead."
_______

A dark form stood framed in the window against the darkness of the room, like a hole in reality. Valentina stood up and shielded her eyes with her hand, trying to see. Elspeth? No, there's nothing there. It had been a disquieting thought, the dark thing in the dark . . . No, it's nothing. Elspeth wouldn't be so . . . strange.
_______

(view spoiler)
_______

". . . animals aren't permitted to be buried in Highgate Cemetery, it's a consecrated Christian burial ground."
"Non even Christian animals?" asked Julia
_______

"I want to go to school. I want to have a boyfriend, I want to get married and have kids. I want to be a designer, I want to live in my own flat by myself, I want to eat a whole sandwich by myself. Not necessarily in that order," she added.
"You can have all the sandwiches you want," Julia replied. She meant it as a joke, but Valentina stood up and walked off abruptly. ...more

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Sep 29, 2009 Brooke rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2009

I definitely don't know how to review this one. For context, I adored Time Traveler's Wife to pieces, and I normally keep my distance from anything that even hints of romance. The entire time I was reading Her Fearful Symmetry, I had a hard time remembering that the same author wrote both books. HFS has a nice gothic atmosphere, which reaches from the tone to the ghostly elements to the setting (London's Highgate Cemetery). I felt like it had more in common with Tana French's (awesome) mysteries ...more

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Feb 15, 2020 Denisa Arsene rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020

I've finished this story just now. I can't say that I didn't like it, nor that I did. I am somewhere between them. Too much SF for my taste, and too less humanity.
The twist of the sister, everybody knows about it but choses to not say a word - didn't satisfy me. After years, the twin daughters face a separation of view and one of them choses to kill herself- with the hope that somehow she'll return to life (you can find why and how and all the details by reading the book).
And the final twist - ...more

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Jul 22, 2010 Rhonda rated it it was ok · review of another edition

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 Bush is o 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 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! ...more

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About Audrey Niffenegger

Audrey Niffenegger

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Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963 in South Haven, Michigan) is a writer and artist. She is also a professor in the MFA Creative Writing Program at Columbia College Chicago.

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 with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpre ...more

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I am not naturally given to the romantic or the lighthearted. I realized when I was about halfway into Time Traveler that it was so dark and so...

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Quotes from Her Fearful Symmetry

“There are several ways to react to being lost. One is to panic: this was usually Valentina's first impulse. Another is to abandon yourself to lostness, to allow the fact that you've misplaced yourself to change the way you experience the world.” — 210 likes

“Listen, sometimes when you finally find out, you realize that you were much better off not knowing.” — 143 likes

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