Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

This book, the second mainstream novel by Time Traveler's Wife author Audrey Niffenegger, is probably the book I was most looking forward to reading this year. This book did not immediately strike me as strongly as TTW did - I was a third of the way through the book before I actually cared about what was happening. But after finishing the book I wonder if it actually is more of a masterpiece than TTW - the premise is equally enchanting and there were more characters to care about. I don't think TTW was a great book purely because of its unusual premise but that certainly was the most notable and creative aspect of the book. Her Fearful Symmetry is different - a more subtle achievement.

The story is about a set of twins who inherit a flat in London from their aunt, who is their mother's estranged twin. The condition upon their living there is that they must stay for a year and their parents cannot visit them there. They decide to go and this book chronicles their time there.

The twins meet their aunt's boyfriend who lives in the flat below them and works at a nearby cemetery, as well as her hermit neighbor who lives in the flat above. They live in her apartment with all her books and clothes and other possessions, and begin to get used to London. Telling you any more would be unfair - suffice it to say, the girls and the reader have a lot to learn about their aunt and their mother.

If I have a criticism of the book, it's around the slow start. Niffenegger spent a little too much time building up the mysteries and questions without moving the plot along enough - from the book jacket we already know about the will and the flat, but it's page 64 when something interesting finally happens and nearly page 150 until things get moving. The structure reminded me a bit of TTW - I remember that book requiring 50-60 pages until I had a grasp of what was going on. Here, nothing is that is difficult to follow, but I was similarly frustrated waiting for the book to 'start'.

That aside, the book was still one of my favorites this year. The story, once it got started, was very unusual and kept my attention. I had that "can't put it down/want to savor it" conflict for the entire second half. The writing was great; the cast, both the twins and the other major characters, was compelling. And both the climax and denouement were well worth it. I remember that about TTW too - Niffenegger takes care to make every last word of the book count, not just tie up loose ends in the last few pages.

I will definitely be recommending this one for a while.