Her Fearful Symmetry

Name: Her Fearful Symmetry
Author: Audrey Niffenegger
First published: 2009
Published by: Jonathan Cape (UK)

Her Fearful Symmetry is the much anticipated successor of The Time Travelers Wife. This is the tale of two sisters, their parents, their deceased aunt Elspeth, and the enigmatic neighbours they encounter after inheriting their aunt’s London flat.

Julia and Valentina Poole are identical to the eye, but ‘mirror twins’ in almost every other way; from their internal organs (Valentina’s heart is on the opposite side to Julia’s) to their personalities. Their Henry James-esque relocation to England presents some challenges as Valentina increasingly demands her individuality. This sounds reasonable enough, but leads her to make some life-altering – in every sense of the word – decisions.

Her Fearful Symmetry is a ghost story that doesn’t begin as one. Elspeth’s funeral opens the book, which suggests that she will be known only through the legacy she leaves behind. But this is not the case as unfinished business prevents her from leaving her flat. Her partner Robert also has problems leaving her flat and struggles to keep his distance when the twins move in.

Similarly, upstairs neighbour Martin is confined to the walls of his apartment – but this is due to OCD rather than unfinished business. A theme soon emerges: a group of people are thrown together in a slightly claustrophobic manner (despite the large floor-plans of their homes) and they cannot regain a sense of normality until they leave.

Niffenegger creates very convincing characters that are easy to care about. But just as you think you’ve mastered them, she throws in a huge plot twist which forces you to question their motives and morals.  

Here, death is just something people live with, not something to get upset about. This gives the novel a gothic edge, so perhaps not a book for a sunny day at the beach.

After finishing this book I was left flicking through the acknowledgements to see if they would shed any light on what just happened. They didn’t, and I was left with a bit of unfinished business myself.

For more information, or to order the book, visit: audreyniffenegger.com/her-fearful-symmetry

Tales of luxury lost

Name: Babylon Revisited
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
First published: ‘Babylon Revisited’, 1935; ‘The Cut-Glass Bowl’, 1920; ‘The Lost Decade’, 1989
Published by: Penguin

This slim volume includes just three short stories written by Fitzgerald over a large time span, all of which contain themes of past decadence and reformed characters struggling to gain the trust of others. Fitzgerald is famous for his Tales of the Jazz Age, but these are tales of the post-jazz age; an era which hadn't yet dawned upon society at the time 'The Cut-Glass Bowl' was written. Fitzgerald is often praised for his eerie powers of foresight, and this tale is one such example.

Charlie Wales, protagonist of ‘Babylon Revisited’, is a recovered hedonist who now finds more comfort in the presence of his daughter than in alcohol. He has lived a clean and stable life for many years since his wife’s death, and wishes to reclaim custody of his only child from his sister-in-law, Marion Peters. Unfortunately, past events render Marion incapable of trusting Charlie, even though he does appear to be a sensible and loving chap. But it is easy to see why her suspicions are roused, as other less reformed jazz-age creatures are still on the scene, reminding her of troubled times.

 ‘The Cut-Glass Bowl’ opens with a different tone but the similar theme of luxury lost is instantly recognisable. The metaphorical ‘cut-glass age’ is historically placed alongside the Stone Age and Bronze Age in a satirical take on the decadence of this material. Mrs Evylyn Piper received the bowl from a jilted suitor who likened it to her because she was beautiful, hard and empty. But aside from this unflattering character statement, Evie, like Charlie, has seen the error of her ways and is on the verge of regaining the trust of her husband when an untimely occurrence gets in the way. We are not 100% sympathetic, but are able to feel the injustice of the situation, as these characters appear to be serving a penance for actions they long since committed.

'The Lost Decade' is a mere six pages long, so in summarising it I would probably give away a little too much. Let’s just say it fits in well with the other two stories. In my experience, you tend to know what you’re getting with F. Scott, but he does what he does extremely well and knows how to keep those pages turning.

 

No regrets? Really?

Name: La Vie En Rose
Director: Olivier Dahan
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory
Length: 134 mins
Year: 2007

La Vie En Rose is the most recent dramatisation of French singer Edith Piaf’s colourful life. Her early years were spent in the Parisian slums with her alcoholic mother, who struggled to live the artistic life she wanted with a child in tow, so Edith was placed in the care of her grandmother. This was until her father whisked her away to his mother’s brothel for safe-keeping while he went to war.  He then returned and removed his daughter from this relatively stable, if somewhat dangerous, setting and they took to the road with the travelling circus. Not your average start in life.

Young Edith's first performance was on the street; her acrobatic father instructed her on the spot to ‘do something’ to entertain the crowd of people gathered around them. Years later, at the age of 20, her vocal talent was discovered and she was given a job as a club singer.  Edith quickly learnt to survive amongst the bawdy music scene, joining in with the culture of excess that surrounded her. Noticing she could do better, Raymond Asso took her under his wing for professional vocal training, and the result was a woman who sang with her hands as well as her voice.

The film scooped up around 30 awards and a similar number of nominations; predominantly for Cotillard’s stunning performance as the turbulent Edith, but also for costume design, make-up and directing, all of which are definitely deserved.

However, La Vie En Rose appears to focus more on Edith’s sufferings than her career and talent. It is obviously attempting to ‘wow’ audiences into admiring her ability to reach such dizzying heights of stardom despite her various obstacles, addictions and losses.

The real Edith

This is all well and good, but her perceived tenacity is often just rudeness.  The word 'diva' must have been invented for Edith, as she treated those around her with little respect, lived a lavish life that led to her own demise, and to top it off, she regretted none of this behaviour. Is that really admirable?

Some have criticised La Vie En Rose for its fragmentary structure: the various events of Edith’s life are presented as flashbacks in what could be seen as an arbitrary order, which has become something of a cliché in the biographical genre. But this structure - clichéd or not - relevantly portrays Edith’s manic mentality. Placing different aged Edith's side-by-side demonstrates her instability - neither the film nor the woman can keep still. 

This is the story of a gutsy, talented and turbulent woman who refused to give up. Not a jolly film by any stretch, but an inspiring and powerful one that ends on a rather stirring note.

One day you'll surely read this book

Name: One Day
Author: David Nicholls
First published: July 2009
Published by: Hodder
 
Considering the high expectations I had for ‘the book of the moment’,* I was slightly disappointed with the opening chapter of One Day. I wasn’t totally sure whether I was supposed to like Dexter or not, and I later experienced the same feelings towards Emma. But the novel swiftly became attached to my person at all times. 

We are first introduced to Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew shortly after they are introduced to each other: on the eve of their graduation. The novel ends the following morning, but the story of their lives is chronologically mapped out in between. The date is July 15^th, aka St Swithin’s Day, and the narrator revisits them annually on this date for twenty years.

At first sight the structure appears to be an idealistic one, but the tale is injected with a dose of grim reality from the off. Neither are propelled into their dream career and lifestyle; something that will strike a chord with the recent graduate and evoke past memories in the long-since-graduated.

The course of their lives run very differently - sometimes they are together, other times apart - and it becomes increasingly evident that these two people bring out the best in each other. Suspense gathers as you wonder if they’ll ever get together, and frustration ensues when coincidences prevent them from getting their mail or reaching the phone in time. This novel is the ultimate dramatisation of any question beginning with ‘what if...?’

But One Day is more than just a version of the classic tale of nearly-there lovers; Nicholls has turned this most basic of premises into a heart-wrenching contemporary story with its feet firmly in reality. There are several laugh-out-loud moments, as the narrative is as witty as the characters, yet strong emotions are somehow evoked without a hint of sugary language. This mixture of comedy and romance makes it readable for both sexes.

Nicholls perfectly captures the idealism and anxiety of the post-university period. Emma feels ‘as if a fire alarm had gone off in the middle of the night and she was standing on the street with her clothes bundled up in her arms. If she wasn’t learning, what was she doing?’  Dexter is slightly less anxious about his future; ‘He wanted to live life in such a way that if a photograph were taken at random, it would be a cool photograph.’ On paper they are not exactly a match made in heaven, but this adds a further dose of reality. This realism borders on melancholy at times, but to me that was no bad thing. One Day does not view life through rose-tinted spectacles.

Dexter becomes a Russell Brand-type figure at his worst, while Emma is ever the down-to-earth librarian type, although reducing these loveable characters to types does them no justice whatsoever. They are perfectly rounded and their failings make them human. Dexter’s tragic flaw is his tendency towards excess; alcohol, drugs, and women, but Emma is struck by a tragedy of a different kind, without any prior warning or personal blame.

Is this a novel which speaks to a generation? Yes; the excessive consumption of alcohol will no doubt strike a chord with many, as will the question of what on earth comes next when education is all you have known since you were knee high to a grasshopper. I would heartily recommend this book to most people I know, and have already begun doing so. If you only read one book this year, chose this one.

*according to telegraph.co.uk