Her Fearful Symmetry is a quiet ghost story and magic realism horror about identical twins, Julia and Valentina Poole, who struggle to separate themselves from each other. When their estranged aunt Elspeth dies, the twins inherit her apartment in London, which is situated next to the Highgate Cemetery. They leave behind their comfortable lives in America to explore the mysterious world and secrets their aunt left behind. The apartment complex hosts an eccentric collection of tenants: there’s Martin, who suffers from crippling obsessive compulsive disorder; Maryke, Martin’s Dutch wife; and Robert, Elspeth’s dark academia lover who spends most of his time studying the tenants of the cemetery for his doctoral thesis.
I expected more from this book. The story started out so well—the first few chapters were powerful, but then the story didn’t really improve or gain much momentum from there on out.
I was pulled in by the wonderful prose of Niffenegger’s writing and, while this was held up throughout the story, the amazing writing could unfortunately not hold up the slow plot and strange character developments. I’ve read plenty of quiet books that still had wonderful character development and interesting details, but this one lost itself along the way. By the end of the story, most of the characters faced the consequences of their actions, but didn’t really learn anything.
The third person omniscient point of view, which is where the narrator has insight into the actions and thoughts of all the characters, was unique. This was the first time I read a story written in this POV. While it gave great insight into the character’s feelings, it did at times give the feeling of head hopping and was a little confusing.
I loved the setting and the scenery of the book. It made me think of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Most of the graveyard scenes, and particularly the final one in which Valentina’s story comes to a close, were lovely, full of life and truly haunting! The scenery and vibe of the book was my favourite part of this reading experience.
Let’s have a look at the characters:
The twins, Julia and Valentina, were not very likable. Both of their personalities felt underdeveloped and, while the dynamic between them was intriguing—Valentina being timid while Julia was oppressive and fiery—the resolutions that both of them faced at the end of the story wasn’t satisfying.
The secondary characters were more interesting: Martin with his OCD, Mariyke living her new Dutch life, and Robert with his thesis, historical knowledge and general gloomcore vibe. Martin was the most fleshed out and unique character. His was also the only character arc that felt satisfying.
The biggest issue I had with this book was the HUGE age gaps between the ‘couples’. It made the men come across as creepy and stopped me from liking them despite their other good traits. I fail to see how the only two love interests for 21-year-olds in the bustling city of London could be two middle aged men. While this may be an issue of personal opinion and taste, I find it dangerous to present this idea to the young women who are the target market of this novel.
In the end, Her Fearful Symmetry gets a 3-star from me.
Maan Atelier 