In a new video interview with The Guardian, Audrey Niffenegger reveals more tantalizing tidbits about the inspiration behind Her Fearful Symmetry, as well as atmospheric scenery from Highgate Cemetery.
From the video: Niffenegger strolling the lanes of Highgate.
As she told our interviewer, much of the novel was consciously structured along the lines of Victorian classics like The Woman in White—but a good bit was organic as well. It wasn’t until she started writing about Elspeth that she realized the character needed to be a ghost. She tells The Guardian, “having killed this character before she even existed, I started trying to think who she might have been and what she was like . . . I really liked her, I thought she was interesting and cool and I wanted to write about her, but I had already killed her, so I thought right, OK, she’s a ghost.”
Of course, you’d have to check out our interview to see how Niffenegger feels about God and the film version of the Time Traveler’s Wife. If you haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for?
And for anyone who’s already finished Symmetry–what did you think? I’d love to discuss it with you.
