Her Fearful Symmetry

Six years after the success of The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger has returned with a captivating, haunting second novel about the boundaries of love and loss. Set around and in the famous Highgate Cemetery of London, Her Fearful Symmetry proves that death is only the beginning.

When Elspeth Nolan dies of cancer, she leaves her estate to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. They are semi-normal American woman, twenty years old, with seemingly little interest in going to college or finding jobs. Instead, the twins are content to stay in their cozy home in Chicago, and have an abnormally close relationship with each other.

After the twins decide to move into Elspeth’s flat, which borders London’s famous Highgate Cemetery, they come to know the building’s residents. Eccentric Martin, who is a brilliant and charming crossword puzzle setter who suffers from debilitating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Marjike, who is Martin’s devoted, yet trapped wife. And Robert, Elspeth’s lover, who is writing his thesis about the cemetery. As the twins become involved in the lives of their aunt’s neighbours, they come to realize that much is still alive in Highgate.

Including their aunt, who can’t seem to leaver her old life – and apartment – behind.

What really sets this book apart is the originality of the plot. The reader never quite knows what’s coming next, right until the twisted end. From the haunted, confused thoughts of Elspeth’s ghost, to Valentina’s desire to be free of her twin, to Robert’s grief over his lost love, Niffenegger creates a captivating plot that will keep the pages turning.

And yet, this novel is just as much about the living as the dead. Niffenegger has a haunting way of portraying her characters in a way that makes them utterly believable, utterly human, without making them seem cliché or flat. Through hearing how the twins’ adventures through London have been portrayed, it’s obvious that Niffenegger has done her research, not wanting to get any fact wrong. She even worked as a tour guide for Highgate cemetery, just like fictional Robert does, and her interest in the place seems to show through the book, with Robert’s version of the tour. If any criticism could be given to Niffenegger’s characters, it could be that they are a little too crazy, a little too wild, but this is a minor concern that only shows up in a few areas of the novel.

Instead, the biggest issue with this novel is the amount of time it takes to weave all of the different plot threads into an intriguing storyline. It takes almost three-quarters of the novel for Valentina to make the decision that starts to drive the plot to its Gothic climax, the real twist that brings the ghostly element of Her Fearful Symmetry to a peak. And yet, while some readers may enjoy the wait for the climax, it could turn away others, which makes this the novel’s biggest failing.

All in all, while Her Fearful Symmetry may not have the commercial, star-crossed lovers appeal that The Time Traveler’s Wife has, the way it portrays love, obsession, and loss makes this a book worth picking up. It’s an accomplished and notable book, clearly written with affection, and is a must-read for fans of her previous work.