Her Fearful Symmetry: Audrey Niffenegger

Image Credit: The Vibe

I remember reading Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife long ago and being enchanted by it. So when Her Fearful Symmetry became a bestseller I wasn’t surprised. The theme was otherworldly again just like her previous book and all I needed to see was if it was as impressive. Before I go into my review, here is a brief about the novel –

When Elspeth Noblin dies she leaves her beautiful flat overlooking Highgate Cemetery to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina Poole, on the condition that their mother is never allowed to cross the threshold. But until the solicitor’s letter falls through the door of their suburban American home, neither Julia nor Valentina knew their aunt existed. The twins hope that in London their own, separate lives can finally begin but they have no idea that they have been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt’s mysterious and elusive lover, who lives below them and works in the cemetery itself.

Ghosts. Death. A Cemetery. Some secrets. The perfect ingredients for a spooky tale, I thought when I read the synopsis of Niffenegger’s novel. Well, I wasn’t too off the mark, but the spookiness is not in terms of restless ghosts haunting people setting off bloodcurdling screams. It is the doings of people who are very much alive that weaves an atmosphere of silent horror in the novel.

When Julia and Valentina first arrive in London, they enjoy the stillness of the apartment, the beautiful but morose setting and the freedom to explore the city together. Then the story takes a turn for the darkly comic when we learn that Elspeth’s ghost is still in the apartment. The twins realize this after a series of funny incidents and eventually Elspeth is able to communicate with them and with Robert using an Ouija board. It is here that the relatively light tone of the novel twists into one of phantasmagoric horror.

Power is an omnipresent force in the story. Between the twins we see that Julia is the more dominant sister who takes care of Valentina. But the latter feels stifled by Julia’s controlling demeanor. She yearns to get away from their forced sameness and find her individuality. And Niffenegger’s way of spelling out thoughts told and untold, add vigor to feelings expressed. One of the passages where Julia questions Valentina when she comes home late from dinner with Robert is a great example –

Valentina shrugged. “It’s not like I have a curfew. And you aren’t my mom. And even if you were my mom, I’m twenty-one years old.” So whatcha gonna do about it, huh, Julia?
“It’s common courtesy to let me know when you’re coming home, otherwise I worry.” I’m more than Mom. You can’t just go off on your own.
“That’s not my problem. You knew where I was and who I was with.” You don’t own me.
“You went out for dinner. Dinner doesn’t last until 2 a.m.!” What were you doing for seven hours?
“I went out on a date and none of this is any of your business!” Let go of me!
“It is! What do you mean?” We don’t have secrets from each other ever.
“Don’t you think it’s time we started having our own lives?” Oh, God, just let go, Julia.

Valentina’s desire to break away from her sister’s control is just the chink that Elspeth needed. Elspeth’s presence is felt in the form cold draughts by everyone in the apartment. As the novel progresses and Elspeth grows stronger, we feel the chill. The atmosphere grows ominous and cold as we learn of things to come. In a bizarrely horrifying sequence of events, shaded by deep overtones of Faust and Frankenstein, the novel had me riveted till the last page.

Fear, in all its forms, is another factor that permeates the novel from beginning to end. Valentina is afraid of Julia, Martin who is obsessive-compulsive fears everything so much that he is unable to step out of his apartment and Robert is scared that he is disintegrating after Elspeth’s death.

Apart from these characters in the novel, death itself is almost like a living, breathing person. Elspeth, though dead, makes her presence significantly felt as she hangs around her apartment. The twins soon become aware of her but it’s Valentina who has a closer connection with Elspeth. Life, we see, is not just confined to the living but also to the dead. The cemetery itself had a life of its own as Robert knew.

Robert loved to watch the seasons evolve in Highgate. The cemetery was never without some green; many of the plants and trees had symbolized eternal life to the Victorians…At night stone and snow reflected back moonlight…

Niffenegger maintains the pace relentlessly. London becomes the perfect setting for a novel of gloom such as this with its equally damp and dreary weather. Combined with beautiful writing, Niffenegger spins a yarn that is peopled with odd beings, peculiar behaviors and abnormal occurrences, which perhaps belong more to the realm of the chimerical. Yet, Her Fearful Symmetry is a tale of morality, life after death, the burning desire to be alive and the misuse of power and of secrets. For those willing to believe, the dead continues to live and given a chance would kill to be alive.

Verdict: Gripping read. Let your imagination run wild.

Rating: 3.5/5