Bought as one of 'two for £7' in Sainsbury's today.


Six years after the phenomenal success of The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger has returned with a spectacularly compelling and haunting second novel set in and around Highgate Cemetery in London.When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English aunt, only knew that their mother, too, was a twin, and Elspeth her sister. Julia and Valentina are semi-normal American teenagers--with seemingly little interest in college, finding jobs, or anything outside their cozy home in the suburbs of Chicago, and with an abnormally intense attachment to one another.The girls move to Elspeth's flat, which borders Highgate Cemetery in London. They come to know the building's other residents. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword puzzle setter suffering from crippling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Marjike, Martin's devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth's elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt's neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including--perhaps--their aunt, who can't seem to leave her old apartment and life behind.

I enjoyed this book but not quite as much as The Time Traveller's Wife. It was easy to read, the characters were likeable and it had a clever plot. I could almost believe that this was possible!

Sending out on a bookring:

1. raeliz64 - UK
2. Vekiki - UK
3. Ashleigh4985
4. bookguide - Netherlands
5. Sarabe1 - Sweden
6. Xana - Belgium
7. a3ana - Netherlands
8. judygreeneyes - US
9. grubsneerg - US
10. rhythmbiscuit - US
11. nightraine56 - US


Please try to read the book within one month and don't forget to journal when you receive the book and when you send it out to the next in line.

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Sending it off on its travels starting with raeliz64, the first on the bookring list. Enjoy!

Received today - thanks very much :-)

I apologise for keeping this book longer than I should, we've had a new kitchen and bathroom fitted and the book got lost under a pile of stuff. I have a week off work now so should have it finished and in the post by the end of the week.

I was almost afraid to read this in case it was a disappointment as I loved The Time Traveller's Wife so much. At first I enjoyed it, but then it just got a bit, well, silly! So, yes, it was rather a disappointment.

Posted to Vekiki today.

received today - i'm gonna hang on to this til the new year just to be on the safe side, the post office is a bit rushed over chrimbo & i'd hate it to get lost :)
really looking forward to reading it, thanks

popped in the post to Ashleigh yesterday

I thought this was ok, but no where need the standard of Time Travellers Wife. The last third or so was infuriatingly silly.
The charecters were compex and well drawn thoiugh, I enjoyed them.

Thankyou for sharing!

This arrived yesterday, i am reading another book at the moment but will get to it soon.

I am really looking forward to reading it, i absolutly loved the time travellers wife.

I just finished reading this book on holiday in Barcelona at the weekend, so it has already travelled a wee bit.

Like most other reviews, i enjoyed the start but found the ending just became too ridiculous. Robert seemed to easily persuaded in going along with such a stupid idea. And the twins both seemed selfish and naive to the point i felt nothing for them by the end.

Nowhere near as good as time travellers wife but the 1st half atleast was a enjoyable read.

Thanks for sharing, I will pm bookguide now for an address.

Sent to Sarabe1 as I couldn't get hold of Bookguide.

Hope you enjoy it and thanks for sharing

xox

Oh dear, I recieved this quite some time ago and forgot to register... I did read it promptly though and did like it quite a bit - but would not have picked it up in a library or bookstore, since all things supernatural and spooky tend to freak me out. ;-)

On it's way to Xana i Belgium as soon as I recieve her address.

Received the book last week and started to read it almost immediately (but forgot to register immdediately, sorry!). The book gripped me as soon as I started to read and I'm quite frustrated for not having time to read on.....

Yay, this book is finally in my hands! I've been wanting to read it for such a long time. I don't sign up for many book rings, but of course today two arrived in the mail. Isn't that always how it is? I'll do my best to dispatch both of them as quickly as possible. Thanks for sending it along!

I have PM'd the next person on the list for mailing address.

This is the story of identical twins, Julia and Valentina. One is the mirror image of the other -- but most people would never notice that mirror quality if it were not pointed out. Their mother and her sister were also identical twins. The girls have never met their aunt, she and the mother had a falling out long ago, and have never told anyone why or what it was about. After the aunt dies (this is not a spoiler, she's terminal at the beginning of the story) she leaves most everything to the girls, who are ~20 yrs old, with some specific stipulations. This is really where the tale begins in earnest, and where we see the nature of the relationship between the twin girls and their relationship to the world outside of them. It is a very well-written story, set in London, with lots of sights and sounds of that city woven in. It made me develop a yearning to go live there for a year and soak it in! There are all of the typical elements of a ghost story -- a death, a cemetery, at least one ghost, people who loved the person who died, and people who see or otherwise experience the ghost. The story has some really good twists and turns, and wound up not even close to how I expected, but that's the beauty of this author. She easily takes those twists and turns, keeps you from getting too lost, and totally surprises you in the end. Wonderfully fun read!! My sister and I (also twins) decided to read it at the same time, although I have finished a bit before her. I'm looking forward to her thoughts when she finishes it.

This book is off by mail to grubsneerg in Pennsylvania. Enjoy!

"Her Fearful Symmetry" arrived safely in Greensburg, Pa., a couple of days ago and I can't wait to dive in. Thanks for sending, judygreeneyes, and for sharing, madmadge!

I really wanted to love this story as much as I did "The Time Traveler's Wife," but the only part I got really excited about was the shout-out to David Tennant when the twins were watching "Doctor Who" on the telly. Unfortunately, the recap of "The Girl In The Fireplace" episode was abruptly ruined when the television mysteriously stopped working. Coincidentally, this is about the time the book stopped working for me, too. I found a lot of it predictable—even the wibbly-wobbly paranormal stuff—but I did appreciate the underlying theme of feeling like you are trapped in your life and finally taking the steps you need to be free.

On its way to rhythmbiscuit. Enjoy!

I received the book the other day, and I've started reading it. So far I find it interesting, but I know I won't like it as much as The Time Traveler's Wife.

I don't usually finish books I'm not enjoying, but I went ahead and finished this one. It didn't redeem itself for me. I waited all that time to learn what had transpired between Edie and Elspeth, and it was ridiculous. I didn't believe in either Julia or Valentina as characters, nor did I believe in the change in their relationship.

The parts I liked best were Martin's character and learning about Highgate Cemetery. Frankly, I probably would have been more entertained by reading Robert's thesis than by reading this novel.

I contacted nightraine56 for an address. I'll move the book along soon.

Because nightraine56 chose not to read this book, I was the end of the bookray. I've included the book in OphEliaGirl's Gotta Get Moving Bookbox. Enjoy!

I obviously took this out of a book box and forgot to register it. Sorry all!

This book was bizarre. I finished it, because I wanted to find out if I had already figured it out. I had. Didn't enjoy near as much as The Time Traveler's Wife. Thanks for sharing.

Added to the Potluck Bookbox Ray.

I chose this book from the pot luck book box. Thus is from the author of the time travelor's wife (which I njoyed) so I thought I would give another if his books a try. Thanks for sharing!