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"Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger (2009)
, 4 Oct 2014
I really wanted to
read this book after enjoying Niffenegger's previous book "The time
Traveller's Wife", which showed her many talents as a writer: from his
Literary English, his imagination, and virtuoso composition technique.
However, I was disappointed after reading it.This is the story of two American twins who move to London after their deceased aunt bequeaths them with her apartment, located at the creases of the Victorian Cemetery of Highgate. Their experiences will intersect and intertwine with those of their weird neighbours, a ghost included.
The
atmosphere of the book is good, and the settings too. This is a
revamped love and ghost story after all, with many elements of the
eighteenth-century romanticism, although sometimes also very clichéd.
The book has three parts, the third being the most interesting, as it concentrates most of the action, emotion and entertainment. However, to get there, you have to go through two hundred pages of uneven storytelling. The twins' family story is unnecessarily intricate and a bit a soap-opera-ish. The actions of some of the characters are arbitrary and inconsistent, underdeveloped at times. Some characters and stories are great, and I would have liked them explored and developed in depth - The most memorable characters are, indeed, those of the twins' obsessive-compulsive neighbour Martin and his missing Dutch wife; really intriguing and fascinating, but just outlined.
While reading the book I had the impression that Niffenegger had produced the book in a hurry, as if her publishing house had given her a deadline and she had had to hurry to finish it despite being incomplete. Just an impression, but the book is unpolished and uneaven, and below Niffenegger's capabilities.
The book is enjoyable to read, especially if you come to it without many expectations. It is interesting at times, a bit soapy others, intriguing and fascinating at others, and hurriedly finished. However, you will feel that is just a sketch of a book that never matured enough before being released to the public.
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