Audrey Niffenegger challenged our understanding of time and space in The Time Traveler’s Wife, and now she’s bending the norms of life and death in the novel Her Fearful Symmetry.
Valentina and Julia are twin sisters – young and spoiled, they loaf about trying one college after another, never separate from each other, and ending up back at home with their loving and long-suffering parents. That is until they receive news that Aunt Elspeth – their mother Edna’s twin – has died and left her London apartment to the girls. The girls have never met their Aunt Elspeth before, in fact, their mother rarely speaks of her. There are secrets buried decades deep that even they can’t begin to guess at. But they are intrigued by the chance for adventure and decide to abide by Elspeth’s rules that they live in the apartment for a year – and never allow their mother or father to visit – before they can inherit her entire estate.
What they find in London is more than just their aunt’s old home; they discover the complex layers of their strained relationship as twins, the allure of nearby Highgate Cemetery, and the mysteries of their new neighbors – obsessive-compulsive Martin and Elspeth’s former lover, Robert. They also discover that the London apartment may have more of their aunt left in it than they could imagine.
Her Fear Symmetry has a gothic feel and takes place in a small physical space, giving it an air of intimacy. The characters are all vitally flawed, but their weaknesses make them vulnerable and somewhat relatable, if only at times a bit annoying. I like that Niffenegger explores more than what we would consider the “main” characters and offers up an intriguing supporting cast. There’s a lot to test the bounds of believability in this novel – from the girls’ awkward and uncomfortable (for me at least) symbiosis to the convoluted maze of secrets between their mother and aunt, and finally to the supernatural twists of fate that course through the story.
But if you like good writing with a bit of gloom and ghost, then this book’s for you. Just don’t guess too early how you think it will end – you might be surprised.
BOOK:30 