false 250729 0755308441 9780755308446 2106 597 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/250729.The_Vanishing_Act_of_Esme_Lennox 91236 Maggie O'Farrell 3667 965 5 1 false Sun Jan 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jun 20 06:05:46 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 04 12:43:25 -0700 2008
This is the story 2 young girls, Kitty and Esme, growing up in the 20's and 30's in first colonial India and then in Edinbugh when their parents move back home. They are sisters who share everything and love each other very much yet one is the dutiful, polite, home-maker type and the the other is the slightly rebellious younger sister who wants to stay on at shcool rather than marry a nice boy. After a series of events (which include trying on her Mothers clothes of all things!) and a shocking incident that happens to her, Esme (the younger sister) is sent to a lunatic assylum and dissowned by her own family and where she remains for the next 61 years.

Inbetween this story told by Esme and also Kitty (whom now has altzheimers) we also flit between the past and the present with Kitty's Grandaugter, Iris, who also narrates her story. The way O'Farrell has woven the 3 women's voices so intricately together to reveal only parts of the story at a time is just amazing and also serves to keep you turning those pages well into the night. The story is so beautiflly told and the twists and surprises mean that you can't possibly put it down even for a minute.

I don't really know what I expected of this book, but I certainly wasn't prepared to be so blown away by it. I have never read anything else by this author, but I certainly will be after this. I really do highly recommend this book and hope you enjoy as mucy as I did.]]>