Audrey Niffenegger: Her Fearful Symmetry

By Vicki Kellaway on Jan 27, 10 11:10 AM in What We're Reading

Oh, it's not like me to get excited about a book and blog on it before I've even finished it, is it?

Oh no - because I'm sensible enough to realise I could go home tonight, turn over a page and find the book has descended into dire and is now destined only for the dump.

Ha, yeah right! Generally, the book I'm reading is always the one I'm aching to blog about - because the moment I've finished it is the moment I'm onto the next one...

So I'm liking Her Fearful Symmetry - and I wasn't the biggest fan of the Time Traveller's Wife (I'll duck my head at this point because I know it is widely loved)

Her Fearful Symmetry is set in modern London and essentially tells the story of two twins who come to live in the flat left to them by their aunt, Elspeth, upon her death.

Elspeth is their mother's twin although we quickly learn that they had fallen out.

Once in London the naive twins set about their daily life and in excellent Niffenegger fashion there is plenty left unsaid - you are constantly waiting for something to happen and not in a bad way.

There are plenty of intriguing characters, including the late Elspeth's boyfriend Robert and Martin who lives upstairs - housebound due to his suffocating OCD.

I'm loving how the book meanders through these characters making it an enjoyable and peaceful read, with just enough tension to keep you absorbed.

The twins themselves are extremely fascinating - they are the mirror image of one another and almost impossibly bound. Perhaps at 21, it's finally time to break free.

Of course, I'll no doubt have to return to this blog posting when I finish the book - but I suspect that unless I turn a page tonight and find the rest of them have been left blank, I'll be recommending it.

As always, let me know your thoughts.