The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
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By Maggie O'Farrell
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1 review
A significant departure for Maggie O’Farrell in terms of maturity and style, THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX"" ""will be one of the unmissable publishing events of 2006. Set between the 1930s,and the present, Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel is the story of Esme, a woman edited out of her family’s history, and of the secrets that come to light when, sixty years later, she is released from care, and a young woman, Iris, discovers the great aunt she never knew she had. The mystery that unfolds is the heartbreaking tale of two sisters in colonial India and 1930s Edinburgh – of the loneliness that binds them together and the rivalries that drive them apart, and lead one of them to a shocking betrayal – but above all it is the story of Esme, a fiercely intelligent, unconventional young woman, and of the terrible price she is made to pay for her family’s unhappiness. This is vintage Maggie O’Farrell: an impassioned, intense, haunting family drama – a stunning imagining of a life stolen, and reclaimed.
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Almost the entire book group managed to finish this book and they almost all enjoyed it too!
We found that having no chapters made this book a little tricky in terms of finding places to stop, but that the different voices within the book were very clear meaning we didn't get confused even with the lack of chapters.
We had a long discussion about how women were treated in this paternalistic version of the world, and sometimes they still are in this day and age. We felt that we needed a little bit more about how Esme lived in the institution, what was her life like etc. We did get a little of this but we wanted more just so we could understand things a little better. We were also interested in finding out a little more about how places like these closed down, it all just seemed so sudden and with so little thought for the people living there.
We liked the ending of the book but we do worry for Esme, what exactly will happen to her. Given how long she has been institutionalised it could be difficult for her to get used to living out in the real world.
Overall we gave this book 8 out of 10.
