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The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox [Paperback]

Maggie O'Farrell (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (154 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 17 May 2007
THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX is vintage Maggie O'Farrell: a stunning imagining of a life stolen, and reclaimed.

Edinburgh in the 1930s. The Lennox family is having trouble with its youngest daughter. Esme is outspoken, unconventional, and repeatedly embarrasses them in polite society. Something will have to be done.

Years later, a young woman named Iris Lockhart receives a letter informing her that she has a great-aunt in a psychiatric unit who is about to be released.

Iris has never heard of Esme Lennox and the one person who should know more, her grandmother Kitty, seems unable to answer Iris's questions. What could Esme have done to warrant a lifetime in an institution? And how is it possible for a person to be so completely erased from a family's history?

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The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox + After You'd Gone + The Distance Between Us
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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Headline Review; Reprint edition (17 May 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0755308441
  • ISBN-13: 978-0755308446
  • Product Dimensions: 13 x 2.2 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (154 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Maggie O'Farrell
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Product Description

Review

'Actually unputdownable, written with charge and energy and a kind of compelling drive, a clarity and a gripping dramatic insidiousness reminiscent of classic Daphne du Maurier' (Ali Smith)

'O'Farrell's subtlety and delicate touch have never been so finely demonstrated' (Independent on Sunday)

'Mesmerisingly good' (Daily Mail)

'O'Farrell's story-telling skills ensure that this novel is compulsively readable, and delivers strong emotional punch' (Telegraph)

From the Publisher

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is, quite simply, electric: the most breathtaking novel you will read this year. With passion and exquisite control, it reveals the story of Esme, an unhappy child in colonial India, and later a troubled young woman in 1930s Edinburgh, who tragically does not fit into that straight-laced world, and of the devastating decision her family makes when this situation becomes a crisis. It shows us how her family closes around this terrible secret – so that when, many years later, a young woman, Iris, gets a call from a psychiatric hospital saying they are about to release Esme, Iris has genuinely never heard of her – and how Iris and Esme piece together a story as heartbreaking as it is shocking.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox sees Maggie O’Farrell mark out her own unique imaginative territory. It is a book that will delight all her legions of existing fans, with a maturity and power that will bring her to a whole new readership --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
120 of 122 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written page turner 11 Jun 2007
By K. French
Format:Paperback
I have previously read another Maggie O'Farrell, and loved her gentle narrative, so thought "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox" would be the perfect holiday read. The book contains a bit of everything, intrigue, love, sadness and even some humour, and tells of the huge betrayal of Esme Lennox by her sister, and the susbsequent consequences. I loved the portrayal of Esme as a quirky, rebellious character fighting against the typical expectations of her family, and enjoyed hearing the story from several different angels, that of Esme herself, her sister, and her newly found relative. The whole tale builds up to a climatic finale, which left a slightly disturbing flavour, but is befitting and not out of line with the rest of the book. Overall, a highly recommended read.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful read! 6 Jun 2007
By A Reader
Format:Hardcover
This is the first Maggie O'Farrell book I've read and I loved it. Will definitely be reading more of her in the future.

I loved this book. I whizzed through it in a weekend it was so unputdownable. Although the author's writing style is kept very simple and the story is revealed through minimum facts, there is still something about it that really made me empathise with Esme. I felt genuinely moved by the loss of her life to a mental institution. it was such a heart-wrenching read in that respect. I thought the characterisation of Esme was fabulous - one of the best female characters I've read for a long time. I think Iris and A;ex were slightly weaker characters and I think the author could have done a bit more to develop them.

I agree with what another reader has said on here that the book does leave you wanting more. Although I respect O'Farrell for giving the author the benefit of the doubt to fill in the gaps in the story that she has left, I would also have liked a bit more 'padding out' - especially regarding Esme's incarceration. However, despite this, it was still a wonderful read. I would urge anyone to read it!!
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59 of 61 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars My New Favourite Novel 7 Feb 2007
By Lucy Sampson
Format:Hardcover
I have to start this review with a warning: if you pick up this book you won't be able to put it down until you've finished. Nothing else will get done - you won't be able to answer the phone, cook a meal, pick up your emails, anything. You'll just have to sit there, stuck to your chair, and keep on reading.

This is the story of a woman put into an asylum for doing nothing more than trying on some of her mother's clothes and refusing to cut her hair. Not the behaviour of an insane person but the normal things a teenager does. But Esme has been born into a repressive, pre-Second-Worl-War society and so any slight rebellion is seen as a sign of an unsound mind.

It is a brilliant, evocative, moving book. I cried about four times, especially towards the end. It moves back and forth from the 1930s to the present-day Edinburgh. Esme's niece, Iris, is called to the asylum to meet the great-aunt she never knew she had. At first she's reluctant to have anything to do with her but then she gets caught up in the mystery that is Esme Lennox...

I can't find the words to recommend this book enough. BUY IT. IT'S GREAT!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant
I had been recommended this book over a year ago and now wish I had read it long ago. A fascinating cleverly written book. Will defiantly be reading more Maggie O'Farrell.
Published 3 days ago by Gem92
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommend!
I really enjoyed this book - from start to finish, and struggled to put it down.
My only negative is that it wasn't very long, although maybe that's why it was so easy to... Read more
Published 3 days ago by N. Williams
4.0 out of 5 stars Finding Yourself Vanished
This book highlights a very intriguing part of our not too distant past. It was once shamefully easy for men to have their wives, daughters, and other women under the immediate... Read more
Published 5 days ago by Valerie L. Pate
5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably powerful, riveting and remaining in the mind
O'Farrell's fourth novel, published in 2006, takes into an area of disgraceful medical and social events. Read more
Published 7 days ago by Dr R
4.0 out of 5 stars The Vanishing Act Of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
Once I started to read this book I could not put it down and read it from cover to cover in a few hours. Read more
Published 9 days ago by S. Clarkson
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Having read one of her books before and not enjoyed it too much. i felt I should give her another try. It was an intresting storyline but not for me..
Published 11 days ago by Ellen Stanley
5.0 out of 5 stars Moving, poignant and well drawn.
A story of a complex family and its secrets which is poignantly sad. Balanced with the potential for resolution and happy ever afters, there is also the possibility that the... Read more
Published 11 days ago by P S SIBBONS
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story line
Not the best of Maggie O'Farrell, but well written and an intersting story line which is based on the practice in the early 1900's of confining to mental institutions anyone who... Read more
Published 12 days ago by MissInformed
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a must read
What a book! Very worthwhile read - loved the different styles of narrative - switching from sister to sister, lots of good book club themes to discuss & a definite to recommend to... Read more
Published 15 days ago by Emma Owens
4.0 out of 5 stars nice story
Family skeletons are in the cupboard as a young woman discovers a relative that she never knew that she had.
Published 28 days ago by bookmoviefanatic
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