Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger

Having fallen a tad behind on my TBR pile, I thought of resident guest blogger Julia when I received Her Fearful Symmetry. A creepy tale set in England......

Here's what Julia thought

"When Luanne asked me to review this book, I confess I was a little hesitant. I read Audrey Niffenegger’s first book, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and found it a little confusing and difficult to read.

Well, for those of you who already like Niffenegger, and for those of us who were unsure, this new book, Her Fearful Symmetry, is a winner. As the title suggest, there are many layers of symmetry in the book. There are couples, and pairs, coming together, and coming undone. As one of the main characters, Valentina, begins to separate emotionally from her twin Julia, she begins to form part of another pair, with someone who is still in the process of separating from his former partner.

The book explores the concept of death and how we try so valiantly to hold on to life. The book begins when American twins Julia and Valentina inherit a flat in London, England from their aunt, the twin sister of their mother. The stipulation in the will is that they must live in the flat for a year, and their parents are not to enter the flat. Julia and Valentina are young and lack any real direction in their lives. They decide to take Elspeth, their deceased aunt, up on her challenge and move to England where they discover the joys of London, and some interesting co-tenants in their building.

No book about England would be complete without quirky characters, and this is no exception. But in addition to the obsessive compulsive living upstairs, and the cemetery tour guide downstairs, Julia and Valentina discover they have an unexpected roommate. And from that discovery on the book is full of shifting relationships and pairings, with a truly fearful symmetry of sorts to end the book.

So grab a cup of tea, and you might want to spike it for this read!"

(Can I say it? I knew you'd like it!!) As always, thank you Julia for a great review.