Her Fearful Symmetry

A Novel

By: Audrey Niffenegger

Narrated by: Bianca Amato

Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English aunt; they only knew that their mother, too, was a twin, and Elspeth her sister. Julia and Valentina are semi-normal American teenagers - with seemingly little interest in college, finding jobs, or anything outside their cozy home in the suburbs of Chicago, and with an abnormally intense attachment to one another.

The girls move to Elspeth's flat, which borders Highgate Cemetery in London. They come to know the building's other residents, including Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword-puzzle setter suffering from crippling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Marjike, Martin's devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth's elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery.

As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt's neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including - perhaps - their aunt, who can't seem to leave her old apartment and life behind.

Niffenegger weaves a captivating story in Her Fearful Symmetry about love and identity, about secrets and sisterhood, and about the tenacity of life - even after death.

©2009 Audrey Niffenegger (P)2009 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"[S]he has a knack for taking the romantic into the realm of creepiness, and she constructs a taut mystery around the secrets to be found in Elspeth's diaries and the lengths to which she will go to reunite with her younger lover. It's no small achievement that the revelations are both organic and completely unexpected." ( The New Yorker)

Circles within circles

This is a very entertaining ghost story which also gives a glimpse of every day life in the UK to Americans and vice-versa. I will be visiting Highgate Cemetery when I visit London this fall.

Different

I wanted to listen to this book because "The Time Traveler's Wife" is one of my favorites so I was excited to hear that Audrey Niffenegger had finally come out with a new book. While very different from "Time Traveler," "Her Fearful Symmetry" shares with it the same mindset of characters readily accepting supernatural phenomenon into their everyday life. The characters were interesting, but not as well developed as Claire and Henry In Time Traveler. I found myself not caring too much for the twins. I did like the neighbor, Martin, with all his quirks! The book has many plot twists near the end and I was surprised at how it turned out -not what I expected! I would recommend this book, though.

Gripping & Suspenseful!

I love love love this book! I could not stop listening-totally addictive. I was not at all disappointed by Ms. Niffenegger's sophomore work.

Niffenegger writes such delicious prose

Some books we read for suspense; others, for the warm and fuzzy satisfaction of finding a story and suspending reality with it for a while. Her Fearful Symmetry never says it takes its title from the William Blake poem, "Tyger,Tyger" wherein he poses the question, "What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?" Like the tiger, we know better than to trust Audrey with our hearts, but the deliciousness of her words beckons, seduces, and satisfies. I do not care that the plot is sometimes predictable because I can still feel the resonance of the language with which she describes her world. Bianca Amato's brilliant voice characterization made the transformation complete. If you choose to read with your eyes, rather than your ears, remember to have the little voice in your head pronounce "cemetary" so that it sounds like "symmetry," and the richness of the read will be greatly enhanced.

Extraordinary and compelling story!

I can't remember the last time I read a story that I wished wouldn't end and that was SO pleasurable to "read." Perhaps it's been since The Time Travel's Wife. Not only is the story fascinating, but Bianca Amato exquisitely delivers Niffenegger's writing. The tale is a bit gothic, but wonderfully so, offering intriguing and psychologically curious characters. The tale is a simultaneity of the fantastic wrapped in the domestic. An odd and wonderful mix. It's been two days since I finished the book and still feel haunted.

nowhere near as good as Time Traveler's Wife

I liked Time Traveler's Wife very, very much, and listened to it more than once, something I don't usually do. So I was very excited to get Niffenegger's next novel. However, this novel was just okay. The characters are interesting and some I cared about, although occasionally the motivations and actions of the twin main characters didn't feel convincing to me.

Great Book!

Ms. Niffenegger has become one of my favorite authors. The plot is very creative. I didn't want this book to end.

fantastic but kind of obvious

Would you consider the audio edition of Her Fearful Symmetry to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version so I can't really say for certain which is better. I felt that the reading was outstanding. The voices were distinct and had character. My biggest problems with the book were plot elements. So, yeah. It's probably better than the paper version.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I felt that the major surprise elements at the end of the book were too obvious. I was less than 2 hours into the book and told my friend how I thought the book would end and turned out to be more or less right. I like to be surprised, especially by something that involves a "secret".

Also, one of the characters does something HORRIBLE to another character at the very end of the book. I felt like this could have happened sooner and ms. niffenegger could have given us a story about the fall out of this, but it is brushed aside as if it is nothing. That bothered me.

Which character – as performed by Bianca Amato – was your favorite?

Martin. Which might not make sense to most people. I have a friend with OCD and he reminded me a lot of her. As for just on a voice acting level? Valentine was pretty incredibly well done.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Aside from the one at the end that moved me into an angry state since Audrey never addressed it? Yes. Actually. I thought there were several beautiful and inspiring moments of pure humanity that I can't really tap into because of spoilery moments but yeah. There were a few that just gutted me.

Any additional comments?

It's good. I've been wanting to check out Audrey Niffenegger for a long time and was glad to finally bite the bullet. I'm sad that I wasn't absolutely in love with the book but I did enjoy it. I look forward to reading the Incestuous Sisters. Not sure if I'll read the Time Travelers Wife.

Imaginative story

What did you love best about Her Fearful Symmetry?

Interesting story and characters

What was one of the most memorable moments of Her Fearful Symmetry?

spirits moving in and among people

Which character – as performed by Bianca Amato – was your favorite?

Elispeth

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end

Any additional comments?

It did tend to drag in some parts

Fearfully Good!

Once I started listening to this, I could hardly bear to stop. The plot line is strong, somewhat predictable, but in the way that a good, literate ghost story is: The reader's knowledge of the genre enhances the experience of reading the novel instead of getting in the way be tipping the author's hand. A major plot development (which I anticipated, but as stated before, anticipation isn't a problem with this novel) was terribly heart-rending, but no so much so that I had to (or could!) put my earphones down. The narrator is excellent -- a British accent but not one of those unintelligible ones.