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PrintWorth reading: More than a ghost story
Audrey Niffenegger's "Her Fearful Symmetry" is predictable at times, but has plenty of satisfying surprises.
After hearing Audrey Niffenegger, author of “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” speak at Philbrook last month, I vowed to read her latest novel “Her Fearful Symmetry” and share my reactions.
What came to my mind upon finishing “Symmetry,” was my last trip to London when I ate lunch in the catacombs of St. Martin’s of the Field. My table chair wobbled atop the grave of Mary Barnes, who died in childbirth in 1662. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I couldn’t eat my watercress sandwich.
I don’t believe in the supernatural, but I’ll think twice before I mock those who see apparitions. There have been so many ghost stories through the ages, one must take pause: Hamlet’s father, Coward’s “Blithe Spirit,” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” “The Christmas Carol,” and the list goes on and on.
"Her Fearful Symmetry" (Scribner, 2009) is a dark ghost story and much more. Niffenegger delves into twin myths/realities,
compulsive/obsessive disorder, the singular British, sinister pull of death, and the power of love wielded for both good and evil. After that series of serious topics, be assured “Symmetry” is an easy read, sometimes too predictable and heavy-handed, but well worth your time.
Twins sisters Valentina and Julia, young American adults, arrive in London to live in their recently departed Aunt Elspeth’s apartment across the street from the famous Highgate Cemetery. Guess what, their mother was a twin, too. Their deceased aunt’s younger lover lives in the apartment below. You might think you know how the story progresses, and you will sometimes, but there are lots of surprises to keep you turning the pages.
Although never acknowledged in the book by Niffenegger, William Blake’s poem must have been her muse – a foreboding, menacing introduction.
Tyger, Tyger burning bright
In the forest of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
