I loved this book. Of course, I feel biased because when The Time
Traveler's Wife came out, I loved that as well. And the movie. What
can I say? Audrey Niffenegger can write a good story!
I didn't know what to expect when I started to read Her Fearful
Symmetry. I bought the book strictly because of who wrote it and
only knew it was about twin daughters and a flat their aunt had
left them.
I did NOT expect to be completely taken over by this book.
The only twins I ever really remember reading about are Jessica and
Elizabeth from Sweet Valley High. I still have one book from when I
was addicted to the series when I was younger (and I intend on
reading it again soon!) and remember thinking how neat it would be
to have a twin.
When I started reading Her Fearful Symmetry, I was immediately
entranced. The first twins, Edie and Elspeth live an ocean apart
from each other. Something had happened in their past that made
them never keep in touch with each other. Now Elspeth, who lived in
London, has died and left all of her belongings to Edie's twin
girls, Julia and Valentina. When they turn 20, they can move into
Elspeth's flat and cannot sell it for at least a year.
I was expecting a journey into the deep dark secrets of the first
set of twins and I got that, along with a very gothic tale. It
wasn't too creepy - just enough to give you goosebumps. I wasn't
expecting a ghost story, but it wasn't so scary that I found myself
afraid to read in the dark, but it was enough to add an air of
mystery to the novel - and some very unexpected twists (one of
which I was deeply disappointed with - but it does work.)!
The characters were very well developed and I found myself falling
in love with the twins, with Robert, and even with the
slightly-off-kilter Martin. Relationships are developed, adding
both humour and intimacy to the novel. I love how the twins had so
much fun when they first moved to London - wrapping themselves up
in the city and the dialect.
I've never been around sets of twins before, but it was a
fascinating thing to read about - especially when the girls were
described as being "Mirror Twins," which means that their internal
structure is opposite of each others (e.g. Valentina's heart is on
the opposite side from where Julia's is). This idea helped explain
a lot of the differences between the two girls.
Niffenegger is a great writer - she doesn't drone on with useless
details, but every word is necessary, and every situation in the
book is crucial to the storyline. I could really read this book
again!
Definitely recommended if you are a fan of Audrey Niffenegger's
work, or if you like modern gothic tales and ghost stories.
However, if you're looking for a book like The Time Traveler's
Wife, this might not be for you - there's similar magic, but it
does cross over to the dark side.