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)

Great Book & Narrator

I really enjoyed listening to this book. The narrator did a great job with the British and American accents. The story line was odd, just like Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, but it was really a wonderful book! It kept my interest and I found myself trying to find housework to do so that I could listen to the book. A great listen!

Great read

Picked this book on a whim; it was a great read. Good story line with interesting characters. Sorry to see them go when it was finished.

Interesting, captivating, great read

I really liked this one. It was interesting, captivating, mysterious, and different. An interesting idea looking at souls, twins, and what we are willing to do in moments of desperation. Also I found the relationships between the characters interesting and surprising as well. Ahhh . . . what and who we will betray and settle for - to attain something desired.

Fearful predictability

I really enjoyed the Time Traveler's Wife quite alot, but this follow-up was quite a disappointment. The novel started strong and about 1/4 of the way in I actually thought I was going to like it more than the Time Traveler's Wife. Unfortunately, when the "plot twists" and "revelations" started to be revealed about 1/2 way though, not a one of them were surprising and I had figured out almost every turn in the book well before the author had the reader arrive there. I found myself hoping something would happen that I didn't see coming throughout the entire second half all the way down to the last couple minutes. That thing never came, and that was detrimental... especially in such a plot heavy narration.
The best part of this novel is the narrator, and for that I gave the audio book an extra star.

Disappointing

Unlike most others, I wasn't a huge fan of _The Time Traveler's Wife_, mostly because I feel that Niffenegger dropped the ending of the book. However, I decided to give her another try with this book narrated by Bianca Amato. The narration was perfect. The different voices and accents were consistent and realistic.

The book was interesting and engaging, in the beginning. However, it quickly became obvious where it was going (so many twin stories do this type of plot line) and the essential greediness of Ellspeth / Edie was too apparent throughout.

Again, the ending was disheartening. As someone who has immense trouble with conclusions, I understand this problem, however I find it disheartening when books reach the status these have without having solid endings.

I wanted to like it more. I was drawn in by Amato's portrayal of the characters. In the end, I felt let down.

Interesting story over-acted

Really riveting novel, but narrator not good. Her English accent is overdone, all male characters sound like Bela Lugosi, and the American girls speak in scratchy monotones.
The story is a good one--buy the book and avoid this narrator.

wondrous

I haven't yet read The Time Traveler's Wife, so I can't make a comparison the way most of the reviews do. I can say that I loved this book and found it wondrous and compelling and very much unique.

It reminded me most of The Thirteenth Tale, a book I read on the page and loved. Her Fearful Symmetry took me into a dreamscape of partiality and wholeness, of wonder and horror, and was generally delightful.

I wanted to really like this book.....

.....but in the end it was a bit of a let down and it was just an okay book. Being a huge fan of Audrey's 1st book "The Time Traveler's Wife"....I was expecting something amazing and thought-provoking and ended up with thinking "what in the heck was that all about?!?!?!"....The 'dark' secret revealed in the book was really not that dark and not that 'scandalous' and was a letdown in the whole grasp of things. I enjoyed the characters....some more than others....but as a whole.....they never lived up to the expectations that I had given them. This book has an interesting theme and subplot and does have some intriguing ideas but it still was nowhere near the genius writing of 'Time Traveler's Wife'.....if you have nothing better to do than read a book....save this one for when you have the patience to read it and knowledge that it is not going to 'blow you away'....

Fan-Freakin-Tastic

If you read "Time Traveler's Wife", think about all of the bits that tore you apart inside. Don't think about the romance, though that was wonderful - think about the miscarriages, the loss, the parts that made you want to cry. Amplify those gut wrenching bits from 40% of the book to 70%, replace a time traveling husband with ghosts, twins, a cemetery, and an incredibly screwed up family, and you'll come close to "Her Fearful Symmetry."
Note - if you take a drink every time you hear the word "Victorian" in the first 30 minutes, you'll have to pick the book up days later after you've sobered. Otherwise, this was the most satisfying book I've read in a very long time. And every character gets exactly what she deserves.

A bit of suspense, mystery, romance and humor

I really enjoyed listening to this book. The characters were well-developed and the relationships were interesting and complex. I found myself wanting to see the twin (Valentina) succeed. What a unique concept for a story - the imagination of the author never ceases to amaze me.

What I like about Audrey Niffenager's books is that, they're not always about happy endings, yet you end up feeling satisfied. The characters push through an obstacle, maybe not getting what they want, but appreciating the conclusion and moving on with their lives.

The narration was fine. There are some readers I enjoy more than others, but as long as they're not falsely dramatic, or there isn't too much "background music", I can listen to about anything.