Book Review and Giveaway: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

** THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED *** 

Synopsis: Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers – normal, at least, for identical “mirror” twins who have no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cozy suburban home.  But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn’t know existed has died and left them her amazing flat in a building by Highgate Cemetery in London.  They feel that at last their own lives can begin... but have no idea that they’ve been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the OCD-suffering crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt’s mysterious and elusive lover who lives below, and to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the mother of the girls – her own twin – and who can’t even seem to quite leave her flat....

About the Author: Audrey Niffenegger is a 21st century Renaissance woman – an exceptionally creative writer and visual artist who has achieved enormous success in both worlds.  Her highly acclaimed debut novel, THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, sold more than four million copies and was been made into a film in 2009.

A Chicago native, Niffenegger received her MFA in Printmaking and Drawing from Northwestern University. Her art has been widely exhibited in the United States and is in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress and Harvard University’s Houghton Library. She has remained with her original gallery, PrintWorks, for almost two decades. She is a professor in the Interdisciplinary Book Arts MFA Program at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts.

Review: WOW- I wish we were in the fall, as this is a PERFECT giveaway for that season, due to it being a very-modern ghost story!  Like the "Time Traveler's Wife", Niffenegger's imagination is wonderous in it's simple take on the caprices of human nature and the secret longings and desires that are at heart the basic of any good ghost story. Thing back to the "Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe (if any of you have to ask WHO? You will be unceremoniously flogged for having bad teachers who never exposed you to his writings! HA HA, or maybe not....).

The nuances in this story keep you so enraptured that the ending suddenly looms and you aren't ready for it. If you can get thru this book and not want to fly to London to check out all the places mentioned and especially Highgate Cemetary (check out the author's photos of it on her website). It reminded me of "In the Garden of Evil" (which launched numerous tours in Savannah) in that respect. Like any good ghost story the ending will surprise you and leave you thinking about the story for awhile. The mark of a good storyteller indeed!

I can't recommend this book enough- I won't be surprised if a movie version comes out, but I don't think it will be able to capture the feelings and inferences in the book! So read the book first!

The Giveaway

  Winner will receive their own copy of Her Fearful Symmetry!

 

Main Entry:

MUST be done FIRST, or extra entries do NOT count!

Go to the Regal Literary site and enter their Her Fearful Symmetry Contest!

I know it's gonna be rough to win a 5 DAY trip to London,a tour of Highgate Cemetary by the author HERSELF or autographed books and broadsheets, but I think most of you will be up for that challenge, if you win!!!

So enter, and then come back and let me know what day/time you entered,

and you can go on to the extra entries!

Extra Entries:

Make sure I have an email address, with your comment, so I can contact you, if you win!   
If I don't have a way to contact you, you will forfeit your win!

USA /Canada
 

3 day winner's rule : Winner has 3 days to acknowledge they won prize,
and confirm address, if no contact, then new winner will be picked in their place. 

 
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Contest will end on August 19th, at midnight. Winner will be picked by Random Number (random.org) on August 20th, and emailed. As soon as winner's info is received, I will mail them their book directly.

Regal Literary's contest ends on September 19th, 2010!

Disclosure / Disclaimer:  I received this book, free of charge,from Regal Literary, for review purposes! No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to review it. I did get a blogger entry into the Regal Literary HFS Contest for Bloggers who review the book, which is open to ANY blogger who reviews the book and sends their link to Regal Literary!