Niffenegger has the ability to make the un-common common and the impossible possible. Her poetic prose, depth of characters, and attention to detail in describing a setting envelop the reader in that they forget they are being asked to suspend reality. In her first novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife, the reader journeys along with a man who woos, marries, and sustains a relationship in a very non-linear manner. Here, in Her Fearful Symmetry, we effortlessly accept a ghost as a living entity and full character in her own right. This alternate understanding of reality becomes so enveloping that even when it screams out to be read as a horror story, I found myself unable to do so. It is a rare talent that can make the horrific beautiful and mesmerizing.
The story begins when Elspeth Noblin passes away and leaves her London apartment to the twin daughters of her own estranged twin sister. Shortly after moving in, they discover that their aunt is still an occupant as well. Long-held secrets are revealed to some while still with-held from others. The twins must navigate their own relationship as well as friendships and more with Elspeth’s neighbors, of which one was Elspeth’s lover. Each character in their own way must grapple with how to separate their own self-identity from others with whom they are inextricably linked.
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Notes from a Book Nerd 