romance I had ever imagined. It gripped me and and took hold of me.When I heard that Ms. Niffenegger has a new book, I pretty much dropped everything on my To Be Read list and put her on the top and I'm glad I did.
Again, her writing is striking and her imagination wonderful. There is something about her that reminds me of Jorge Luis Borges. Another favorite author of mine. Maybe it's the fact that she can be so fantastical and her endings SO surprising.
The story is centered on a Ghost. In reading the reviews I read that it is a creepy book and indeed it was creepy! At times, I wasn't sure if I could go on and would want to know what is going to happen next. I'd slightly delay reading the next page or paragraph. Added to the creepiness is that this all happens next to Highgate Cemetery in London and it lends an extra amazing aura of death to the book.The book starts with the death of Elspeth in London. Immediately your sympathies are played upon and you are sad to hear of her untimely death at the age of 42 from leukemia. And sad that her younger lover, Robert, mourns her so deeply and would do anything to bring her back.
However, as you read the book you realize things about Elspeth that are not so complimentary. For example, we read that her brother-in-law in Chicago is relieved to hear she is dead.
As the book progresses we find out that Elspeth has an identical twin in Chicago named
Edwina (Edie). At one point the two were inseparable but then there was a falling out that happened between them and it was never resolved. In her will, Elspeth leaves her flat and a large sum of money to her nieces in Chicago. However, in order to inherit the flat they must live in it for a year and their parents are not allowed to visit. These nieces are identical twins like Elspeth and Edwina. But unlike the two older twins they are mirror twins and in many aspects they mirror each other. They are described in a way that I couldn't help but remember the twins from The Shinning. The girls are thin and colorless, they even dress identically and even though the are in their early twenties, everyone thinks they are much younger.Upon finding out about the will Edwina says, "I was always afraid she would try to take them away from me." And indeed, the twins move to London and into Elspeth's flat.
Increasingly, a theme of being lost is developed in the book. All the characters are lost somehow. The inseparable twins often get lost in London but each one reacts to the feeling of "lostness" differently. Robert their downstairs neighbor who was Elspeth's lover is lost in grief and then lost in so many
other ways as the book progresses up until the end.On other occasions we read about how people get lost in the cemetery and they need to be retrieved. Or that Martin their upstairs neighbor neighbor diagnosed with OCD loses his wife (she leaves him.) And she remains lost to him as she doesn't want him to know where she lives. Or that Martin has no idea where his son is. Because of his illness Martin is lost to the world. With only the Internet as a connection to the world and later on when one of the twins befriends him.
We find out that Elspeth is now a ghost in her flat. As time goes by she becomes stronger and stronger and more fully formed. Valentina, the weaker of the twins, and referred to as "mouse" by her other twin Julia, can indeed see Elspeth. Julia forms a friendship with Elspeth and starts to spend many hours in her company.
However, Elspeth feels lost and aimless in her flat and longs to be free. (Here I wondered if she wouldn't have wanted to be free in the cemetery. Surely there must be other ghosts there to keep her company.) However, Elspeth can not figure out how to get out of the flat even though she tries. Her focus is not the cemetery and the world outside. She wants to be with Robert. As
he lives downstairs she wants to traverse down through her floor to be with him but she always ends up as a puddle on the ground like the Wicked Witch of the West in Wizard of Oz.As we read on, there are added layers to the horror and the story prepares you for something ominous. Robert who has now formed a love interest in Valentina, tells her to be careful as Elspeth is not a nice person. On another occasion Valentina who is in the cemetery looks back onto her apartment window and thinks she sees something horrific looking out at her. But she thinks she has imagined it.
Something horrific does happen and there is a major surprise(s) towards the end. Suffice it to say that I think Ms. Niffenegger is a genius. I hope to read many more books by her. Her imagination is simply terrific!
Having said this, I think the ending could have been much better. There is one loose end I can think of. And it seemed a bit rushed and I don't think she took the same time that she did in developing the first 2/3 of the book where we are getting to know the characters at an excellent good pace. The ending is not quite as satisfying as most parts of the book. Or rather it is satisfying - but in a different way as it is action-packed and full of surprises and creepy.
I still recommend the book and looking forward to reading her next book which will be about a girl who has an unusual disorder - The Werewolf Syndrome. How imaginative is that?
