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christina_cullen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
megamog's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
erikareads18's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Oh my goodness! Could not out this down! So good!!!
chloej111's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
halkid2's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
While I think author Maggie O'Farrell (HAMNET, THE MARRIAGE PROPOSAL) is one of the most talented authors writing today, I was not a fan of this earlier (2009) book. Given that the novel's average rating on Goodreads is 3.92 today, I readily admit that others will likely enjoy it much more than I did. I awarded it three stars on Goodreads, even though my own reaction was probably more like two.
The story is built around a long-hidden family secret: a great aunt who no one in the family seems to know anything about. Which is not surprising since the aunt, Esme, has been locked away in a mental hospital for more than 60 years. The problem that arises is that the facility is closing, which means Esme's family must find her an alternate residence.
Unfortunately, Esme's once close and only sole surviving sister, Kitty, is suffering from dementia. So the task falls to Kitty's granddaughter Iris. And alongside Iris's efforts to find Esme an acceptable home comes the slow unraveling of the family's dark past.
This is the story's interesting outline and the reason I chose this book to read. But what I found was a structure to the book that was very difficult for me to follow. Different narrators share the telling of the story. Those narrators can shift from paragraph to paragraph without warning. In fact, thoughts and stories being relayed by one narrator can be interrupted mid-sentence by another. The result, for me, was I didn't exactly know who was talking when and couldn't follow multiple conversations or stories unraveling at the same time. What can I do? I am a linear thinker.
I imagine O'Farrell was trying to write in a way that gave the reader a glimpse into Esme's mind. With a short attention span, random thoughts always flying in and out, and an underlying uncertainly around what is real and what is not and who can be trusted and who can't.
The story that is eventually revealed is a good one. Not only does it paint a picture of a very proper family where shame was a central bartering tool, it also tells of a teenage girl who dared to imagine a life different from what society expected, at a time when that was simply not acceptable.
I don't associate this book with the beautiful use of language O'Farrell demonstrates in her other books. But THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX does present quite a vivid and frightening picture of mental illness. So, if the premise interests you, please give the book a chance. You may find all the things that were difficult for me actually intrigue you. And just to be clear, in the future, I will continue to pick up anything O'Farrell writes.
The story is built around a long-hidden family secret: a great aunt who no one in the family seems to know anything about. Which is not surprising since the aunt, Esme, has been locked away in a mental hospital for more than 60 years. The problem that arises is that the facility is closing, which means Esme's family must find her an alternate residence.
Unfortunately, Esme's once close and only sole surviving sister, Kitty, is suffering from dementia. So the task falls to Kitty's granddaughter Iris. And alongside Iris's efforts to find Esme an acceptable home comes the slow unraveling of the family's dark past.
This is the story's interesting outline and the reason I chose this book to read. But what I found was a structure to the book that was very difficult for me to follow. Different narrators share the telling of the story. Those narrators can shift from paragraph to paragraph without warning. In fact, thoughts and stories being relayed by one narrator can be interrupted mid-sentence by another. The result, for me, was I didn't exactly know who was talking when and couldn't follow multiple conversations or stories unraveling at the same time. What can I do? I am a linear thinker.
I imagine O'Farrell was trying to write in a way that gave the reader a glimpse into Esme's mind. With a short attention span, random thoughts always flying in and out, and an underlying uncertainly around what is real and what is not and who can be trusted and who can't.
The story that is eventually revealed is a good one. Not only does it paint a picture of a very proper family where shame was a central bartering tool, it also tells of a teenage girl who dared to imagine a life different from what society expected, at a time when that was simply not acceptable.
I don't associate this book with the beautiful use of language O'Farrell demonstrates in her other books. But THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX does present quite a vivid and frightening picture of mental illness. So, if the premise interests you, please give the book a chance. You may find all the things that were difficult for me actually intrigue you. And just to be clear, in the future, I will continue to pick up anything O'Farrell writes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
ellaisreading's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
mirygilmore's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Ha sido una lectura fascinante. Triste, porque es dura, pero a la vez enternecedora por al relación de Iris y Esme.
Pronto la reseña completa: https://www.sweetparanoia.com/
Pronto la reseña completa: https://www.sweetparanoia.com/
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
An amazing novel. I'd put this off for a year or more - always something new and crisp to get to first! - and really wish I'd read this a long time ago.
Sometimes books about mental illness and split time periods are very confusing, but I didn't find this with Esme at all. I was riveted. I was aching to know just what had caused Esme to be locked in an 'asylum' for more than six decades. What her connection was to Iris, what secrets the past would bring to light.
Often, the twists in this kind of story fall flat, or are obvious. when it dawned on me the truth about Esme I was open-mouthed for a moment. A proper "no!!" moment.
Such a well-told story. Outrageous that women were once locked up for such minor misbehaviours as demonstrated by characters here in Esme's home, real history kept alive for my generation for whom this is quite unreal.
I really felt the time period of Esme's youth, attitudes and the world feeling quite vivid. Esme herself had more than one voice - that of the old woman locked away, the young girl struggling to conform, the wilful teenager that we know is imminently to be detained (but why?).
The reveals are masterly executed, I didn't see them coming and found myself frowning with confusion that I hadn't thought of these possibilities.
Iris in the present, a relative of Esme's, as well as her deteriorating older sister both are rounded characters that play equal roles in the story, Iris's reaction to Esme's incarceration a mirror of our own, her grandmother's dementia and babble revealing secrets gradually and artfully.
A modern masterpiece I would say. So easy to lap it up, full of real shocks and beautiful writing. And an eye-widening ending that isn't explicit but lets you draw your own conclusions. Wow.
I thought of Elizabeth is Missing as well as Grace Henderson Says it All as I read this. But this is better than either. My first Maggie O'Farrell and probably not my last.
Sometimes books about mental illness and split time periods are very confusing, but I didn't find this with Esme at all. I was riveted. I was aching to know just what had caused Esme to be locked in an 'asylum' for more than six decades. What her connection was to Iris, what secrets the past would bring to light.
Often, the twists in this kind of story fall flat, or are obvious. when it dawned on me the truth about Esme I was open-mouthed for a moment. A proper "no!!" moment.
Such a well-told story. Outrageous that women were once locked up for such minor misbehaviours as demonstrated by characters here in Esme's home, real history kept alive for my generation for whom this is quite unreal.
I really felt the time period of Esme's youth, attitudes and the world feeling quite vivid. Esme herself had more than one voice - that of the old woman locked away, the young girl struggling to conform, the wilful teenager that we know is imminently to be detained (but why?).
The reveals are masterly executed, I didn't see them coming and found myself frowning with confusion that I hadn't thought of these possibilities.
Iris in the present, a relative of Esme's, as well as her deteriorating older sister both are rounded characters that play equal roles in the story, Iris's reaction to Esme's incarceration a mirror of our own, her grandmother's dementia and babble revealing secrets gradually and artfully.
A modern masterpiece I would say. So easy to lap it up, full of real shocks and beautiful writing. And an eye-widening ending that isn't explicit but lets you draw your own conclusions. Wow.
I thought of Elizabeth is Missing as well as Grace Henderson Says it All as I read this. But this is better than either. My first Maggie O'Farrell and probably not my last.
esther_a_'s review against another edition
4.5
A great mix of intrigue and predictability. Interesting read and had an eerie feel to it throughout. The different timelines and narratives did jump about but still easy to follow. Great writing and well told story.
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Digital audiobook performed by Anne Flosnik
2.5**
From the book jacket: In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage-clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’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 sixty-one years. Iris’s grandmother Kitty had 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.
My reactions
There’s so much going on here I hardly know where to start. There’s the mystery of Esme’s commitment to the mental hospital and Kitty’s having kept her sister’s existence a secret all these years. There’s Iris’s mess of a love life (which really is superfluous to the main story). There’s the additional intrigue of Iris’s “brother, who is really no blood relation” Alex.
I thought it was rather melodramatic as well as being disjointed, but that ending – that wonderfully ambiguous and ethereal ending! Well, she got an extra half-star (and I’ll round up to 3) for that final scene.
Annie Flosnik does a reasonably good job of narrating the audio. Her diction is clear and she sets a good pace. But the style of the book really does not lend itself to an audio performance. O’Farrell writes this in snippets and vignettes, moving back and forth between present-day and the past. In the text, different fonts are used, which might help the reader recognize the jumps in time / narrator. But on audio no such clues are present, which makes it doubly confusing.
2.5**
From the book jacket: In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage-clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’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 sixty-one years. Iris’s grandmother Kitty had 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.
My reactions
There’s so much going on here I hardly know where to start. There’s the mystery of Esme’s commitment to the mental hospital and Kitty’s having kept her sister’s existence a secret all these years. There’s Iris’s mess of a love life (which really is superfluous to the main story). There’s the additional intrigue of Iris’s “brother, who is really no blood relation” Alex.
I thought it was rather melodramatic as well as being disjointed, but that ending – that wonderfully ambiguous and ethereal ending! Well, she got an extra half-star (and I’ll round up to 3) for that final scene.
Annie Flosnik does a reasonably good job of narrating the audio. Her diction is clear and she sets a good pace. But the style of the book really does not lend itself to an audio performance. O’Farrell writes this in snippets and vignettes, moving back and forth between present-day and the past. In the text, different fonts are used, which might help the reader recognize the jumps in time / narrator. But on audio no such clues are present, which makes it doubly confusing.