Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

I finally found time to read this highly-anticipated second offering from the author of The Time Traveler's Wife. I bought it from Target a while ago, but hadn't had the time to read it until this winter break... I sped through it in 2 days!

This book is a Harry Potter-esque ghost story, full of historical accuracy and whimsy. Niffenegger lets the spirit of her British characters and settings shrine through, and she captures the essence of the culture very well... a rare feat for an American author, in my opinion.

She creates magical character with whom we can relate as well as marvel at. Each character is quirky-- a bit weird, a bit off, but this makes them that much more interesting! They are strange in a good way.

Like Lionel Shriver's characters (The Post-Birthday World and the forthcoming So Much For That), their relationships with each other are strained by their abnormal yet all together human complications-- obsessions, aversions and peculiarities govern the lives of these very particular people. Their oddness, however, is somehow entrancing and quite lovely, actually.

The plot is full of surprises and twists, but ultimately this book's characters are what make it a worth while read and accomplish a second success for the author. I can't wait to see the movie of her first!