Status
Available
Description
Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:From the New York Times best-selling author of Hamnet comes a gothic, intricate tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the freedom brought by truth... In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage-clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfirend's attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital�??�??where she has been locked away for more than 61 years. Iris's grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esme's papers prove she is Kitty's sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme's face. Esme has been labeled harmless�??�??sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But she's still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit? Exposing the seedy past of Victorian asylums, the oppression of family secrets, and the way truth can change everything, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox will haunt you long past its f… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member SqueakyChu
I very much enjoyed reading this book - until its ending. How can a book be so good and then leave its readers so puzzled with the situation of its characters so unresolved? I guess we, the readers, could script our own ending.
This is the story of Iris Lockhart, a young Scottish woman who makes the
The narrative unwinds in lovely prose, telling the story of the great aunt's childhood with her proper parents who return to Scotland from India and her sister Kitty who feels superior in all ways to Esme. This is interwoven with Iris's own story of a conflicted relationship with a married man. As the reader has no idea in which direction the story will go, this becomes quite the mesmerizing tale. Despite my disappointment with its ending, I did enjoy my experience of reading this novel and think it well worth recommending to others.
This is the story of Iris Lockhart, a young Scottish woman who makes the
Show More
discovery that she has a great aunt, Esme Lennox, who is being released from a psychiatric facility after sixty-one years. It is up to Iris to determine what will become of her great aunt. The narrative unwinds in lovely prose, telling the story of the great aunt's childhood with her proper parents who return to Scotland from India and her sister Kitty who feels superior in all ways to Esme. This is interwoven with Iris's own story of a conflicted relationship with a married man. As the reader has no idea in which direction the story will go, this becomes quite the mesmerizing tale. Despite my disappointment with its ending, I did enjoy my experience of reading this novel and think it well worth recommending to others.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jeniwren
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
Show More
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. Show Less
LibraryThing member mabrown2
This book reminded me of "The Thirteenth Tale" though it wasn't as well developed. I liked the gothic feel of the story as well as the mystery. O'Farrell did a good job building up to that. My main complaint is that we were left hanging when it came to fate of some of the characters. I would have
Show More
liked a little more closure with them. Also, the ending was a bit too mysterious. I think I can properly guess what happened at the very end but it wasn't entirely clear. Other than that, I really enjoyed it. Show Less
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
I really enjoyed this book. For a comparatively short book, there was a lot woven into this story.
There is, of course, first and foremost Esme's story but there is also the life that Iris leads and what you learn of her childhood. Kitty's marriage is a small but vital part of the book. And, just
I've never read anything else by this writer so I went looking on the web for more information. I found this web site which has a reading guide for this book and a biography and interview of the writer. She has been incubating this story for years and I think it shows in the tightness of the narrative despite the years spanned by the book.
There is, of course, first and foremost Esme's story but there is also the life that Iris leads and what you learn of her childhood. Kitty's marriage is a small but vital part of the book. And, just
Show More
in case you thought the book was all about women, there is Alex, Iris's "brother" who has an interesting past as well.I've never read anything else by this writer so I went looking on the web for more information. I found this web site which has a reading guide for this book and a biography and interview of the writer. She has been incubating this story for years and I think it shows in the tightness of the narrative despite the years spanned by the book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lit_chick
"We are all, Esme decides, just vessels through which identities pass: we are lent features, gestures, habits, then we hand them on. Nothing is our own. We begin in the world as anagrams of our antecedents." (134)
Set primarily in Scotland, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox begins in the early
Before WWII is even on the radar, sixteen-year-old Esme Lennox, who refuses to conform her behaviour to the social expectations of the day, is committed to a sanitarium by her parents – she will remain there more than sixty years. Kitty, meanwhile, marries and goes on with her life, but never does she visit her sister. Not once. Fast forward to present day (ish) Edinburgh, and Iris Lockhart, her middle-aged granddaughter, receives a call from Cauldstone, the institution which has housed Esme for so many decades, that it is closing and does she, as next of kin, wish to take in her elderly great aunt? But Iris has never heard of Esme. Kitty, now in residential care and suffering from Alzheimer’s, has always claimed to have been an only child.
I thoroughly enjoyed O’Farrell’s beautifully written novel, though truthfully I wished for more Kitty and Esme, and less Iris. I understand that Iris represents the “modern woman” that Esme wanted to be – so far ahead of her time. But I found Iris’s dysfunctional relationships with men somewhat overdone. That said, I did love the story of the sisters, and the novel’s look at the indiscriminate committal of people who did not conform behaviourally, and who were consequently put away not because they posed a danger to themselves, but because they made others uncomfortable. Well done, Maggie O’Farrell! Highly recommended.
"'You know what it says here?' She says, 'That a man used to be able to admit his daughter or wife to an asylum with just a signature from a GP.'" (72)
________________________
Further Note:
Want to include this beautiful quote which I couldn’t fit into my review. This is Kitty thinking of her sister: Kitty has just married; Esme is institutionalized:
“– when I left I thought of the bed, our bed, empty, every night. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to be married. More than happy. And I had a beautiful house. But sometimes I wanted to go back, to lie in the bed we'd shared, I wanted to be there on her side, where she'd always lain, and look up at the ceiling, but of course – (84)
Set primarily in Scotland, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox begins in the early
Show More
twentieth century, spans some eighty years, and is narrated by three women, all related: Kitty Lennox; Esme Lennox, her younger sister; and Iris Lockhart, Kitty’s granddaughter. At its heart, the novel is the story of the deep and enduring relationship between sisters, Esme and Kitty – and of the tragic decisions which sunder their connection.Before WWII is even on the radar, sixteen-year-old Esme Lennox, who refuses to conform her behaviour to the social expectations of the day, is committed to a sanitarium by her parents – she will remain there more than sixty years. Kitty, meanwhile, marries and goes on with her life, but never does she visit her sister. Not once. Fast forward to present day (ish) Edinburgh, and Iris Lockhart, her middle-aged granddaughter, receives a call from Cauldstone, the institution which has housed Esme for so many decades, that it is closing and does she, as next of kin, wish to take in her elderly great aunt? But Iris has never heard of Esme. Kitty, now in residential care and suffering from Alzheimer’s, has always claimed to have been an only child.
I thoroughly enjoyed O’Farrell’s beautifully written novel, though truthfully I wished for more Kitty and Esme, and less Iris. I understand that Iris represents the “modern woman” that Esme wanted to be – so far ahead of her time. But I found Iris’s dysfunctional relationships with men somewhat overdone. That said, I did love the story of the sisters, and the novel’s look at the indiscriminate committal of people who did not conform behaviourally, and who were consequently put away not because they posed a danger to themselves, but because they made others uncomfortable. Well done, Maggie O’Farrell! Highly recommended.
"'You know what it says here?' She says, 'That a man used to be able to admit his daughter or wife to an asylum with just a signature from a GP.'" (72)
________________________
Further Note:
Want to include this beautiful quote which I couldn’t fit into my review. This is Kitty thinking of her sister: Kitty has just married; Esme is institutionalized:
“– when I left I thought of the bed, our bed, empty, every night. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to be married. More than happy. And I had a beautiful house. But sometimes I wanted to go back, to lie in the bed we'd shared, I wanted to be there on her side, where she'd always lain, and look up at the ceiling, but of course – (84)
Show Less
LibraryThing member cestovatela
Esme Lennox marches to the beat of her own drummer, savors every day pleasures and spurns traditional women's past times like sewing trousseaus and chatting up potential suitors. These days she would be the norm, but among the Scottish upper crust in the 1920s, this was enough to get you committed.
I really relished the early parts of the novel when we see a newly-liberated Esme stumbling through the modern world. Her fascination with the car radio and emergency flashers was funny and poignant all at once. Equally moving was the comparison between Esme and her grand-niece Iris, who is able to act freely on all the un-domestic urges that led to Esme's incarceration. If the book had managed to focus on the two women's developing relationship, I know I would have left a happy customer. Unfortunately, author Maggie O'Farrell doesn't trust the strength of her own characters, so she throws in a married lover and a creepy stepbrother into the mix. The resulting subplots eclipse the development of Esme's intriguing character and leave the book with an abrupt, unsatisfying ending.
Bottom line: this book had a lot of potential, but the convoluted plot and overwrought writing make it a disappointment. Save your reading time for something better.
Show More
Thanks to her appearance-conscious parents and scheming older sister, she spends 61 years in a lunatic asylum before she is released to the care of a grand-niece who had no idea she existed.I really relished the early parts of the novel when we see a newly-liberated Esme stumbling through the modern world. Her fascination with the car radio and emergency flashers was funny and poignant all at once. Equally moving was the comparison between Esme and her grand-niece Iris, who is able to act freely on all the un-domestic urges that led to Esme's incarceration. If the book had managed to focus on the two women's developing relationship, I know I would have left a happy customer. Unfortunately, author Maggie O'Farrell doesn't trust the strength of her own characters, so she throws in a married lover and a creepy stepbrother into the mix. The resulting subplots eclipse the development of Esme's intriguing character and leave the book with an abrupt, unsatisfying ending.
Bottom line: this book had a lot of potential, but the convoluted plot and overwrought writing make it a disappointment. Save your reading time for something better.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lookingforpenguins
Iris Lockhart is going about life, minding her own business and trying not to think about the fact that she is in love with her step-brother when *bam*: she finds out she has a great-aunt that she's never heard of who's been locked up in an asylum for the last sixty years. Iris feels compelled to
Wasn't too crazy about this one. The book vacillates between Iris's life and what happened to Esme that led her to lockup in the nuthouse. It took a while to figure out that the random stream-of-consciousness passages were coming from an addle-pated grandmother and that added to the bit of confusion over the rapidly changing points of view in the novel.
Nor was the (adopted, step, whatever) brother/sister-being-in-love-thing working for us. Yes, we understand they weren't blood related. It was still creepy in a V.C. Andrews kind of way.
O'Farrell did a nice job of conveying the terrible conditions that existed (and still do, to some extent) asylums during the early 20th-century, but she didn't play enough to this strength. It was one of those novels that could have been great, but fell flat, although we admit the ending was pretty sharp. Ultimately, it needed more One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest quality to really work.
Kinda meh on this one. Don't rush out today to buy it...perhaps a library checkout would be better because it does have a pretty snappy ending.
Show More
take Aunt Esme under her wing and the novel goes on to reveal the events that led to Esme's lockup while Iris tries to sort out her own life. Wasn't too crazy about this one. The book vacillates between Iris's life and what happened to Esme that led her to lockup in the nuthouse. It took a while to figure out that the random stream-of-consciousness passages were coming from an addle-pated grandmother and that added to the bit of confusion over the rapidly changing points of view in the novel.
Nor was the (adopted, step, whatever) brother/sister-being-in-love-thing working for us. Yes, we understand they weren't blood related. It was still creepy in a V.C. Andrews kind of way.
O'Farrell did a nice job of conveying the terrible conditions that existed (and still do, to some extent) asylums during the early 20th-century, but she didn't play enough to this strength. It was one of those novels that could have been great, but fell flat, although we admit the ending was pretty sharp. Ultimately, it needed more One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest quality to really work.
Kinda meh on this one. Don't rush out today to buy it...perhaps a library checkout would be better because it does have a pretty snappy ending.
Show Less
LibraryThing member copperbeech
It's easy to disappear when no one cares where you are, particularly when you're a woman warehoused in the 1930s mental health system. O'Farrell's telling of this story is beautiful. From the book's opening, her skill morphing language into sensual experience grips and holds her reader until the
Show More
end. The intricately woven plot reveals not just the story of Esme Lennox, but that of those whose life her absence and sudden presence has affected. The transitions between those perspectives were a bit hard to follow, and the seam piecing together past and present was fine, if not abrupt at times. Understatement is a strength of O'Farrell, though nearing the story's resolution details become thinly vague. The sense of perpetual absence speaks most strongly in this book, and in the end, what's not said is the book's powerful message. Show Less
LibraryThing member nocto
I'd read something good about this book somewhere (good memory I have there...) and grabbed a copy of it on BookMooch. I picked it up on several occassions and read the first few pages without getting interested in it at all. I decided to give it one last try before putting the book back onto
For the first thirty odd pages the book is an odd mix of a contemporary story set in Edinburgh and an older story set in colonial India. I was bored by this and it was only once the stories connected up that the book really began to grab me. And when it did it really grabbed me and I could hardly put it down. Iris, from the contemporary story, discovers that her great aunt, Esme Lennox of the colonial India story, is being thrown out of a mental institution after 60 years. A great story of family secrets and history and a very moving story.
Show More
BookMooch.For the first thirty odd pages the book is an odd mix of a contemporary story set in Edinburgh and an older story set in colonial India. I was bored by this and it was only once the stories connected up that the book really began to grab me. And when it did it really grabbed me and I could hardly put it down. Iris, from the contemporary story, discovers that her great aunt, Esme Lennox of the colonial India story, is being thrown out of a mental institution after 60 years. A great story of family secrets and history and a very moving story.
Show Less
LibraryThing member amyvancura
This book is very unique. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have never read anything quite like it. I wasn't really pleased with the ending, but I agree with how the author finished the book. I can't wait to read more from this author!
LibraryThing member Cariola
This is one of those novels that grabs you and won't let go, even when you've finished it. I love novels with multiple narrators and/or points of view, and this one gives us three: Iris, a thirtysomething Scottish woman who lives in a flat in her grandmother's house; Kitty, the grandmother, who is
Show More
deteriorating from Alzheimer's and lives in a nursing home; and Esme, Kitty's sister, who no one seems to know exists until she is about to be released from the mental institutions where she has spent the past 61 years. O'Farrell does a wonderful job of creating unique voices for each woman and of letting us get inside their heads. Their stories intertwine in fascinating and unexpected ways. I will be reading more work by O'Farrell as soon as possible. Show Less
LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
Maggie O'Farrell dumps the reader into a complex story somewhere in the middle and moves out in both directions. There's the present day story of Iris, who owns a vintage clothing store and has few close attachments outside of her dog and her step-brother. She is informed of the existence of an
O'Farrell manages to pack quite a bit of dramatic occurrences into a slim novel, without falling into melodrama. There aren't a lot of quiet moments here; there simply isn't room. I enjoy O'Farrell's talent for drawing the reader into the intimate lives of her characters. She manages to make the story believable. I might have liked to have understood a few of the secondary characters a bit better, but this was a book I had a hard time putting down.
Show More
aunt she never knew about when the institution her aunt has lived in for the past sixty years is closing. And then there's the story of that aunt, Esme Lennox, beginning with her childhood as an energetic and imaginative girl in India.O'Farrell manages to pack quite a bit of dramatic occurrences into a slim novel, without falling into melodrama. There aren't a lot of quiet moments here; there simply isn't room. I enjoy O'Farrell's talent for drawing the reader into the intimate lives of her characters. She manages to make the story believable. I might have liked to have understood a few of the secondary characters a bit better, but this was a book I had a hard time putting down.
Show Less
LibraryThing member scrappycat
Iris learns that her great-aunt Esme is being released from a mental institution. The only problem, Iris didn't even know that she had a great-aunt, that her grandmother had a sister. The story of Iris and Esme is told through bits and pieces. It's not so much told, it's more like it unfolds. A bit
Show More
gothic, a bit mystery, a bit of a love story. I really can't describe it. It's just very good. Show Less
LibraryThing member eejjennings
Amazing story.
LibraryThing member duende
Oooo, how frustrating! Yet, how engaging!
This tragic story has three narrators and spans almost 80 years. The three voices braid together to tell a story of jealousy, betrayal, and maybe madness. I say "maybe" as I'm left unclear on whether there was madness to begin with, or whether madness was
But....it was over long before I wanted to be done with Esme, Iris, and even Alexander. I want, yet fear, to know whether their future will be as tragic as their past.
This tragic story has three narrators and spans almost 80 years. The three voices braid together to tell a story of jealousy, betrayal, and maybe madness. I say "maybe" as I'm left unclear on whether there was madness to begin with, or whether madness was
Show More
induced, or even whether there was madness, at all! Much of the story is told in a sort-of stream of consciousness style, jumping from one thought to another, as the mind does. I found it beautiful, but could see that some readers might find it annoying. The author displays meticulous attention to the smallest details of thought and behaviour, particularly of children, and to the social concerns of middle class in the 1930s.But....it was over long before I wanted to be done with Esme, Iris, and even Alexander. I want, yet fear, to know whether their future will be as tragic as their past.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SquirrelHead
This is a tragic story, full of twists and revelations, made all the more sad as the story’s inspiration comes from historical records. In the 1930s era women could be locked in an insane asylum just for wandering off on long walks, or for keeping their hair long. Your liberty was at the whim of
The story starts in Scotland when two sisters are sitting at a dance. It’s but a glimpse of two important characters. Then the detailed background story begins in India where these same two sisters are young; you are allowed a look into their early lives and how they interact with their parents. There is a baby brother born, Hugo, and Esme loves to play with him. While Kitty is the more serious of the two and minds the rules, Esme is the polar opposite. She makes excuses to leave her tutoring session and wanders off to visit her little brother. She walks barefooted to the horror of her prim and proper mother, she won’t be molded into the quiet citizen her mother desires her to be. I like her.
The story flashes between the girl’s childhood in India, then their move to Scotland and then advances to present day with Kitty’s granddaughter Iris.
Iris is a single young woman who owns a vintage clothing shop. She is quite possibly in love with her step brother Alex. It’s not as creepy as it sounds when you read their back story. Her life turns on end when a phone call reveals there is an elderly aunt who has been housed at an asylum for over 60 years, and Iris is the family contact. She’s never heard of Esme Lennox. Iris visits her Alzheimer afflicted grandmother, Kitty Lockhart, who is in and out of hazy thought but does confirm Esme is her sister. So what does Iris do now? Move a possibly crazed old woman, a stranger, into her flat? More importantly, why was Esme’s existence kept a secret all these years.
Now we flashback to Kitty and Esme Lennox as teenagers who are being introduced to the social circle. Kitty is the older sister and all about propriety and appearance. Esme is not confined to conventional social mores and continues to upset her parents. Surprisingly, the young man they hoped would be interested in Kitty is actually besotted with Esme. Later events will change everything in Esme’s life.
I am upset for Esme that her life was stolen from her. For no good reason she is swept out of her parents’ home at the age of 16 and then left to rot in an asylum. She is asked at one point how long it was since she had last seen her sister. Her reply: “Sixty-one years, five months and 6 days” and fact is, if the hospital had not been closing down, she would have ended her days there.
This is the second book I have read by this author and I like this one as much as the first. It’s sad and it leaves you with much to think about. I like having some things unresolved where you think about potential outcomes. Excellent writing. Well done Ms. O’Farrell.
A quote that sums up the lives of the patients…and when you ponder it, the everyday rituals we all move through.
“It is always the meaningless tasks that endure: the washing, the cooking, the clearing, the cleaning. Never anything majestic or significant, just the tiny rituals that hold together the seams of life.”
This is another paragraph I like. Esme is reflecting on Iris sitting on the beach. It’s perfect – as someone who enjoys genealogy this last part really spoke to me, thinking about my ancestors.
“From all her family – her and Kitty and Hugo and all the other babies and her parents – from all of them, there is only this girl. She is the only one left. They have all narrowed down to this black-haired girl sitting on the sand, who has no idea that her hands and her eyes and the tilt of her head and the fall of her hair belong to Esme’s mother.
We are all, Esme decides, just vessels through which identities are pass: we are lent features, gestures, habits then we hand them on. Nothing is our own. We begin the world as anagrams of our ancestors.” I think that was a marvelous bit of prose.
I want to take Esme out for a cream tea. She was cheated out of so much in life and her remaining days ought to filled with fun things, enjoyable things. It would never make up for all she’s lost.
Stay tuned for more book reviews on Maggie O’Farrell. Happy to have come across her latest book as this was my introduction to her writing.
Show More
your parents or husband.The story starts in Scotland when two sisters are sitting at a dance. It’s but a glimpse of two important characters. Then the detailed background story begins in India where these same two sisters are young; you are allowed a look into their early lives and how they interact with their parents. There is a baby brother born, Hugo, and Esme loves to play with him. While Kitty is the more serious of the two and minds the rules, Esme is the polar opposite. She makes excuses to leave her tutoring session and wanders off to visit her little brother. She walks barefooted to the horror of her prim and proper mother, she won’t be molded into the quiet citizen her mother desires her to be. I like her.
The story flashes between the girl’s childhood in India, then their move to Scotland and then advances to present day with Kitty’s granddaughter Iris.
Iris is a single young woman who owns a vintage clothing shop. She is quite possibly in love with her step brother Alex. It’s not as creepy as it sounds when you read their back story. Her life turns on end when a phone call reveals there is an elderly aunt who has been housed at an asylum for over 60 years, and Iris is the family contact. She’s never heard of Esme Lennox. Iris visits her Alzheimer afflicted grandmother, Kitty Lockhart, who is in and out of hazy thought but does confirm Esme is her sister. So what does Iris do now? Move a possibly crazed old woman, a stranger, into her flat? More importantly, why was Esme’s existence kept a secret all these years.
Now we flashback to Kitty and Esme Lennox as teenagers who are being introduced to the social circle. Kitty is the older sister and all about propriety and appearance. Esme is not confined to conventional social mores and continues to upset her parents. Surprisingly, the young man they hoped would be interested in Kitty is actually besotted with Esme. Later events will change everything in Esme’s life.
I am upset for Esme that her life was stolen from her. For no good reason she is swept out of her parents’ home at the age of 16 and then left to rot in an asylum. She is asked at one point how long it was since she had last seen her sister. Her reply: “Sixty-one years, five months and 6 days” and fact is, if the hospital had not been closing down, she would have ended her days there.
This is the second book I have read by this author and I like this one as much as the first. It’s sad and it leaves you with much to think about. I like having some things unresolved where you think about potential outcomes. Excellent writing. Well done Ms. O’Farrell.
A quote that sums up the lives of the patients…and when you ponder it, the everyday rituals we all move through.
“It is always the meaningless tasks that endure: the washing, the cooking, the clearing, the cleaning. Never anything majestic or significant, just the tiny rituals that hold together the seams of life.”
This is another paragraph I like. Esme is reflecting on Iris sitting on the beach. It’s perfect – as someone who enjoys genealogy this last part really spoke to me, thinking about my ancestors.
“From all her family – her and Kitty and Hugo and all the other babies and her parents – from all of them, there is only this girl. She is the only one left. They have all narrowed down to this black-haired girl sitting on the sand, who has no idea that her hands and her eyes and the tilt of her head and the fall of her hair belong to Esme’s mother.
We are all, Esme decides, just vessels through which identities are pass: we are lent features, gestures, habits then we hand them on. Nothing is our own. We begin the world as anagrams of our ancestors.” I think that was a marvelous bit of prose.
I want to take Esme out for a cream tea. She was cheated out of so much in life and her remaining days ought to filled with fun things, enjoyable things. It would never make up for all she’s lost.
Stay tuned for more book reviews on Maggie O’Farrell. Happy to have come across her latest book as this was my introduction to her writing.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
Iris is a woman living a normal, but complicated life. She’s having an affair with a married man and has a close relationship with her step-brother Alex. Everything in her world is thrown completely off balance when she finds out her great-aunt Esme, who she didn’t know existed, has been in a
The narrative flips the POV between Iris in present day, Esme as a young woman and an elderly woman and Esme’s sister Kitty. This works beautifully, giving us small pieces of the puzzle as we go. Because of this style I don’t know if I would have liked this one if I hadn’t read it in one sitting. Reading it that way was perfect because as it flipped back and forth in time I could just stay in the midst of everything and keep it all straight.
The book is really about women and the way “mental illness” was treated in the past. I’ve always been interested in that and so Vanishing appealed to me. Iris’ plot wasn’t as important to me, but I thought Esme was fascinating. It’s terrifying to think about how misunderstood women sometimes were. A strong will was often treated like a disease and the women were often powerless to defend themselves. There are many other books that touch on this issue; both Fingersmith and The Woman in White come to mind.
SPOILERS
I’ve heard a few people say they aren’t sure about the details of the ending. Did Esme kill Kitty? Was Esme really Iris’ grandmother? To those questions I would say yes and yes, at least that’s how I took it. Does anyone who has read it have a different opinion?
SPOILERS OVER
“We are all just vessels through which identities pass: we are features, gestures, habits, then we hand them on. Nothing is our own. We begin in the world as anagrams of our ancestors.”
BOTTOM LINE: An incredible look at the disturbing ease in which women were shuffled off to an insane asylum only a few decades ago. If at all possible, read this whole book at one time. It’s a quick read, but I can see how the POV would be confusing if you were picking it up and putting it down.
Show More
mental institution for 60 years.The narrative flips the POV between Iris in present day, Esme as a young woman and an elderly woman and Esme’s sister Kitty. This works beautifully, giving us small pieces of the puzzle as we go. Because of this style I don’t know if I would have liked this one if I hadn’t read it in one sitting. Reading it that way was perfect because as it flipped back and forth in time I could just stay in the midst of everything and keep it all straight.
The book is really about women and the way “mental illness” was treated in the past. I’ve always been interested in that and so Vanishing appealed to me. Iris’ plot wasn’t as important to me, but I thought Esme was fascinating. It’s terrifying to think about how misunderstood women sometimes were. A strong will was often treated like a disease and the women were often powerless to defend themselves. There are many other books that touch on this issue; both Fingersmith and The Woman in White come to mind.
SPOILERS
I’ve heard a few people say they aren’t sure about the details of the ending. Did Esme kill Kitty? Was Esme really Iris’ grandmother? To those questions I would say yes and yes, at least that’s how I took it. Does anyone who has read it have a different opinion?
SPOILERS OVER
“We are all just vessels through which identities pass: we are features, gestures, habits, then we hand them on. Nothing is our own. We begin in the world as anagrams of our ancestors.”
BOTTOM LINE: An incredible look at the disturbing ease in which women were shuffled off to an insane asylum only a few decades ago. If at all possible, read this whole book at one time. It’s a quick read, but I can see how the POV would be confusing if you were picking it up and putting it down.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bkladyatl
Very unusual book for me. A young woman finds out she has a great aunt who has spent the last sixty years in an insane asylum. when the asylum closes, she takes her in. Story is told in flashbacks.
LibraryThing member ashley_schmidt
This book was great... I pretty much read it in one day. One of those that you lose sleep for lack of wanting to put it down. The end was a huge surprise, and only added to the intrigue of Esme and her 'madness.' A great book that I'd recommend.
LibraryThing member denton
A wonderful work on what it's like to be mad, and what it takes to make someone so. The authors' description of what Esme is thinking deep in her head when she is a child is brilliant. Beautifully written. I have to read more by this writer.
LibraryThing member mandolin
What an interesting book this was! The main thing I found so fascinating was how easily it was in the past to have a woman locked away in a mental institution. Naturally, the lack of understanding of what are now commonly diagnosed mental disorders was also to blame for the main character, Esme's,
The only thing that distracted me while reading this book was the author's writing style. There were times I had to re-read passages because I had missed the fact that the point of view had changed from one character to another, so make sure that you pay attention for that.
Show More
predicament. The author does a wonderful job of letting you experience Esme's life and injustices, and by the time you get to the shocker of an ending, you have to wonder....if you were Esme, would you have done any differently?The only thing that distracted me while reading this book was the author's writing style. There were times I had to re-read passages because I had missed the fact that the point of view had changed from one character to another, so make sure that you pay attention for that.
Show Less
LibraryThing member afterthought
Interesting storyline though the author leaves much to the reader's imagination. What is going to happen to Esme? What about Iris and Alex? Will they finally have the courage to act on their love rather than just avoiding it? But its scary to think of the society back in the 20s and 30s. Imagine
Show More
you can sent straight to a madhouse for not conforming to the norm of society which is basically just getting married and be a dutiful wife..*sheesh Show Less
LibraryThing member LadyN
Told through the points of view of three women, both in the past and present, this book opens starts with great promise. Esme's is a very moving tale - once a young victim of an unforgiving time, now a old woman who has been kept separate from society for too long. Although I enjoyed the book, and
Show More
how O'Farrell unfolds the story, I felt that the voices of the chraters were not quite well enough defined. That said, the author does have some wonderful turns of phrase, and there are some very poignant moments.I Show Less
LibraryThing member mzonderm
The story of the woman who is institutionalized because she doesn't fit society's norms or because her family doesn't know what to do with her isn't unfamiliar. But we rarely hear her side of the story, or hear her perspective on the things she did that were so unorthodox. Even less often do we
Maggie O'Farrell tells both of those stories here. In bits and pieces we learn of Esme's childhood in India and her life as a young woman when she and her family move back to Scotland. We learn what led up to her institutionalization, and we learn some of what happened to her while she was there. But more important we learn that she stayed in the institution for more than 60 years, that her sister never let on that she was there, so that when the institution was to close, her mere existence was a great shock to her only relative.
I had a bit of a hard time getting into this story, since the writing is a little stilted at first, but soon the story itself drew me in. What actually happened that got Esme committed? Will Iris take her in? What role did Esme's older sister Kitty have in her commitment? And what is the biggest secret of all (because you know there is one)? O'Farrell answers all these questions expertly.
Show More
find out what happened to her after her commitment.Maggie O'Farrell tells both of those stories here. In bits and pieces we learn of Esme's childhood in India and her life as a young woman when she and her family move back to Scotland. We learn what led up to her institutionalization, and we learn some of what happened to her while she was there. But more important we learn that she stayed in the institution for more than 60 years, that her sister never let on that she was there, so that when the institution was to close, her mere existence was a great shock to her only relative.
I had a bit of a hard time getting into this story, since the writing is a little stilted at first, but soon the story itself drew me in. What actually happened that got Esme committed? Will Iris take her in? What role did Esme's older sister Kitty have in her commitment? And what is the biggest secret of all (because you know there is one)? O'Farrell answers all these questions expertly.
Show Less
LibraryThing member MargaretdeBuhr
A great aunt (unknown to Iris) is released from the mental hospital after 60 years to her care. The book at times is disconnected but the revelations that are exposed as the story progresses is interesting.
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2008)