3. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger...

FTC Disclosure: My copy of Her Fearful Symmetry was on loan from my local library. I am an IndieBound and Amazon affiliate, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

About the book:

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. They come to know the building's other residents. There is 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 former 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.

drey's thoughts:
I hate to say this. I really, really do. But, I couldn't get into the story, and I didn't finish the book. For me, this was a disappointing follow-up to The Time Traveler's Wife, which I loved.

The twins are interesting, and the inhabitants of Highgate too. But the story lost me when Elspeth and Valentina conspire to have Elspeth inhabit Valentina's body. Like, *shudder* ugh. I can understand why Elspeth would want to--she's a ghost haunting her own apartment, watching the twins living, and watching Robert. But why on earth does Valentina? And when the story of Elspeth and her twin, Edie, comes to light, I'm even more baffled as to why on earth Elspeth would do such a thing. And that's where I put the book down.

I did think that Martin and Marijke are wonderful characters--and how they still loved each other, even when apart.

Did you read this? What did you think?

drey's rating: Meh (did not finish)

Title: Her Fearful Symmetry
Author: Audrey Niffenegger
ISBN-13: 9781439165393
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2009
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon

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