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 flat in an apartment block overlooking 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 obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt’s mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them, and even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twins’ mother – and who can’t even seem to quite leave her flat…

With Highgate Cemetery itself a character and echoes of Henry James and Charles Dickens, “Her Fearful Symmetry” is a delicious and deadly twenty-first-century ghost story about Niffenegger’s familiar themes of love, loss and identity. It is certain to cement her standing as one of the most singular and remarkable novelists of our time.

If you have read the book, let us know what you think by commenting below.

To buy ‘Her Fearful Symmetry’, click here.

American researchers carried out a series of studies on 3,000 people aged between 60 and 100 to find out what happens to the brain as it ages.

They discovered that elderly people could still learn new abilities but their brains were less dependent on “feel good” hormones making them appear less driven by emotion and impulsiveness.

This, in essence, is wisdom, the Royal College of Psychiatrists Congress in Edinburgh was told.

Porfessor Dilip Jests of the University of California, San Diego, said:

“The fact that older people are slower to respond than younger people is widely seen as a disadvantage. But that’s not always the case.

“The elderly brain is less dopamine-dependent, making people less impulsive and controllwed by emotion.”

The Daily Telegraph, Rebecca Smith, 25/06/2010

Photo courtesy of luis1988santos

This audacious and groundbreaking three part series (2-disc set – 180 minutes) from Open University, made in collaboration with Greater Manchester Police and BBC, explores the fallibility of human memory in witness testimony, by creating eyewitnesses and looking at real life cases crucial to the eyewitness story, as well as looking behind the scenes of the series and finding out more about the experts and their work.

Eyewitnesses play a crucial role in solving crimes, yet around 60% of wrongful
convictions are caused by mistaken eyewitness identification.

 Using full scale staged crimes and investigations to test the memories of ten ordinary members of the public, this series discovers how what someone sees for just a few seconds could be the key to solving a crime – or could send the wrong person to prison.

Contains strong language, staged violence and emotional scenes.

To buy this DVD, view our DVD range

The museum attracts nearly four million visitors every year, has 8,000 visiting scientists, 70 million specimens, 350 resident experts and contains examples of 90% of the world’s known natural diversity. With unrivalled access to the museum, this series presented by Jimmy Doherty examines its extraordinary range of work both front of house and out in the field.

To buy Museum of Life from Canny Minds click here

Try www.iqtestexperts.com