I have been doing a lot of reading lately. So I could write about any number of books for this review but I really want to talk about a book I actually read a while ago. I would have posted about it sooner but I've been so busy and then my internet was out. But here I am finally ready to review a fantastic book titled "Her Fearful Symmetry" written by Audrey Niffenegger. I read her first novel "The Time Traveller's Wife" many years ago, before anyone ever talked about a movie, and I really loved it. So seeing "Her Fearful Symmetry" when I was out book shopping one day I got pretty excited. I took a little while to read it but once I started it took me in and I read it in a couple of days.
The story begins with Elspeth Noblin dying in a hospital in England. Later after her funeral she comes to as a spititual blob in her flat unable to move or see anything and not really aware of anything. As time goes on she becomes more of a full formed ghost. Meanwhile in the suburbs of Chicago Elspeth's two nieces Julia and Valentina, mirror twins, get the surprise of their life when not only did their aunt die but she left them her flat in London and most of her estate. There were two stipulations however, one the twins had to live in the flat for an entire year together. And two their mother, Elspeth's twin Edie, and their father weren't allowed to set foot in the flat. Julia the stronger, more out spoken twin, jumped at the chance for a new adventure. Valentina the simpler, physically weaker of the two was hesitant, she wanted to stay in Chicago and go back to school. Julia being the more pushy of the two wins and the twins head to London and all the mysteries it holds.
Once they get there they discover more questions than answers in the flat and it's surrounding inhabitants. Julia meets their upstairs neighbor Martin who hasn't left his place for years due to his crippling OCD. And Valentina meets, after being there for months, their downstairs neighbor Robert (who was Elspeth's lover) and slowly the two of them begin learning to live life without the person they had depended on for so long. Valentina slowly begins to become independent of Julia and Robert learns to love once more. All the while Elspeth's ghost is there in the flat, watching Julia and Valentina fight, and love, and discover new things about each other. Trying all the while to find a way to communicate with the twins and for the rare moments he's in the flat with Robert. Finally breaking through their disbelief they find a way to communicate with Elspeth.
This is a book that has secrets hidden in every page and I don't want to give too much away. I will say that this book is incredible though. It is very well written full of imagery and poetry. It's part ghost story, part love story and all pure genius. If you are at all a fan of a dramatic beautifully crafted novel then this is a book for you. I truly wish that I could put into words what I felt as I read this book. Each page flowed into every other page flawlessly. There was nothing that seemed out of place in the book. It was a ghost story that felt real, nothing over the top or cheap to it. It is a fantastic read one that I highly reccommend to everyone. It really is something that I think could appeal to all types of tastes. I think that this is definitely worth it.
