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The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

Maggie O'Farrell

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Mar 18, 2008 Trin rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2000s, fiction, irish-lit, historicalfiction

One of those family sagas full of stifling drawing rooms and deep secrets. This book had some interesting aspects to it: the historical facts about mental institutions and what women could be put away for were incredibly chilling, and the parts of the story told in stream-of-consciousness by a woman with Alzheimer’s were different and well done. The rest felt kind of paint-by-numbers, though: abuse! secret babies! quasi-incestuous stuff! Is this a serious literary novel or a vintage bodice-rippe ...more

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Oct 04, 2007 Pam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A fairly quick read. I wasn't sure what to expect, especially as I started it. It was an interesting story, that I should have been able to predict, but for some reason didn't. I wish it had been a bit longer with more of the story. It felt like a short story that had been expanded, but not to its full potential. As unsatisfied as I was with the story, I found myself really enjoying the characters. ...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Candice rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was an amazing book. Iris Lockhart gets a phone call telling her that her great aunt Esme Lennox is being released from Cauldstone Hospital, a mental hospital. Iris never knew Esme existed. Her grandmother insisted that she was an only child. The book goes between Iris's dilemma of what she should do about this new-found relative, Esme's flashbacks to her childhood and youth, and the somewhat hazy recollections of Esme's sister Kitty who in her old age is suffering from dementia. It is clea ...more

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Oct 17, 2021 Marigold rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction-2000-2010, historical-fiction, read-during-pandemic, families, kindle-read

Three and a half. This is like, half a novel! I want the other half and I want it Right Now. ;)

Iris Lockhart owns a vintage clothing store in Edinburgh that's about to face some increased costs and competition; she's having an affair with a married man but she's in love with her step-brother Alex and has been for years. (By the way, ew.) Her life is already a bit messy when one day she gets a call from Cauldstone, a mental health facility that's in the process of closing down; all the residents Three and a half. This is like, half a novel! I want the other half and I want it Right Now. ;)

Iris Lockhart owns a vintage clothing store in Edinburgh that's about to face some increased costs and competition; she's having an affair with a married man but she's in love with her step-brother Alex and has been for years. (By the way, ew.) Her life is already a bit messy when one day she gets a call from Cauldstone, a mental health facility that's in the process of closing down; all the residents have to be rehoused with family or other acceptable facilities. Iris has been identified as Esme Lennox's next of kin. Esme has been at Cauldstone for 60 years, and it turns out she's Iris's great-aunt - Iris's grandmother's sister. Naturally, Iris wonders why she's never heard of Esme before. Iris's grandmother Kitty has Alzheimer's and isn't much help.

From here, the story moves back in time so we can find out the backstory and what happened to Esme that resulted in her being institutionalized for 60 years.

There are multiple narrators/POVs, and often things Esme or Kitty thought or said simply appear on the page with no identification of who's "speaking" or in what time period - a technique many modern writers use that I often find annoying.

It seems clear to me that from her childhood, Esme was on the autism scale, and or experiencing a sensory processing disorder, and or learning disability. She was also extraordinarily shy around people she didn't know, and vulnerable as a result. A traumatic event occurs, and Esme bears the burden. The best thing about this novel is its skillful, haunting recognition of the way a young woman like Esme might be treated in the early part of the 20th century - if she didn't fit into the concept of conventional young womanhood required of her time and social class - if she was "different". And if she had made things inconvenient for her family.

Many years ago I worked at a nonprofit and part of their mission was supporting adoption and adoptive families - and they had been founded in 1865. Adoption records have to be kept forever - and my goodness, were there some stories in the records room there - things that would make your hair stand on end.

I was really enjoying this book, feeling connected to the characters, in the flow of where I thought it was leading - and then A Thing happened, and then it ended! I had about 30 questions at that point and now I just have to make up my own ideas about what I think happened?! I often think novels should be more strictly edited - but in this case, I felt like this was just half the story! I. Want. The. Rest! ...more

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Aug 04, 2008 Lisa rated it liked it

I thought the subplot with Iris and Alex was imperfect, as in unresolved, but if I take it in the sense of "continuing over time," then perhaps "imperfect" isn't such a criticism of the plot. The main plot was deliciously updated Gothic good stuff. ...more

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