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greensalbet 's review for:
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
by Maggie O'Farrell
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a dark novel about a young woman committed to an asylum during Victorian times.
Esme is highly intelligent and willful with both a vivid and precise memory. Yet those around her, particularly her parents, cannot abide her free spirit, bold interruptions, and obstinance. Her older sister, Kitty, is the only person who sees her for the person she is. That is, until she meets her great-niece, Iris.
Sixty-one years after being admitted to Cauldstone Asylum, Iris receives a call informing her the institution is closing, and she needs to come get Esme, the aunt she never knew existed. From her, a tangle of stories unfold linking these two women closer than Iris could have ever expected.
I found the shifts in time during this story required serious concentration to follow, and, even, note-taking at several points to keep track of where, when, who, and with whom, the main characters were engaging. Maggie O'Farrell moved quickly between huge swaths of time without spaces, pauses, or chapters that could have made those leaps cleaner.
Esme is highly intelligent and willful with both a vivid and precise memory. Yet those around her, particularly her parents, cannot abide her free spirit, bold interruptions, and obstinance. Her older sister, Kitty, is the only person who sees her for the person she is. That is, until she meets her great-niece, Iris.
Sixty-one years after being admitted to Cauldstone Asylum, Iris receives a call informing her the institution is closing, and she needs to come get Esme, the aunt she never knew existed. From her, a tangle of stories unfold linking these two women closer than Iris could have ever expected.
I found the shifts in time during this story required serious concentration to follow, and, even, note-taking at several points to keep track of where, when, who, and with whom, the main characters were engaging. Maggie O'Farrell moved quickly between huge swaths of time without spaces, pauses, or chapters that could have made those leaps cleaner.