Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #162633 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Amanda Craig, The Times
'O'Farrell's imaginative territory is one you return to with delight'

Barbara Trapido, Independent
'One of our most interesting and popular young novelists... richly imaginative... superb'

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

Customer Reviews

Beautifully written page turner
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.

My New Favourite Novel
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!

Highly Recommended
Maggie O'Farrell is a fantastic writer, with the ability to weave various strands of stories together in such a seamless manner. The Vanishing Act Of Esme Lennox was a moving, at times shocking book. I found Kitty's jumbled recollections particularly effective, and I felt angry and frustrated by Esme's plight - her only crime was to be a spirited child who was reluctant to follow the conventional path expected of her. The words just flowed off the pages. I loved this book.