O'Farrell, Maggie. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox. A very short and quick read about a woman who has been locked away in mental facility for over 60 years. There is a kind of "Rapunzel quality" to this story...although the wicked witch is a three-fold combination.
Iris Lockhart is notified that her great-aunt is about to be released from Cauldstone Hospital, but Iris is not aware that her grandmother even had a sister. She finally visits and meets Esme Lennox and finds her self unwillingly drawn in, curious about how Esme could have been so effectively erased from family history, and strangely connected to this woman who has spent the majority of life locked away.
Hard to put down, O'Farrell leads us through Esme's memories and her sister Kitty's Alzheimer-induced ramblings to reveal how Esme's incarceration came about. In addition, we ramble through Iris' rather confused life and private problems.
Engrossing.
Fiction. Mystery/ modern gothic?. 2006. 245 pages.
Sounds really interesting! Jeez, my tbr just keeps getting bigger and bigger!
ReplyDeleteHmm. This does sound interesting. I love stories about family secrets being revealed. I will have to add this to my wish list.
ReplyDeleteraych - I know - tbr lists seem to grow exponentially!
ReplyDeleteLF - I really couldn't put this one down; I was that curious for all of the details.
I like the sound of this one a lot. Thanks for drawing it to my attention.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear you enjoyed this one! I have had it on my wish list for a while now and actually got a copy around Christmas. I guess I need to move it up on my stacks huh :)
ReplyDeleteKate - Definitely a fast read!
ReplyDeleteIliana - Yes, read it soon. I'd like to know what other people think about this one.
ooh, I have this on my TBR soon pile - thanks for the review, I'm really looking forward to starting this one!
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on looking for this one in paper. I read one of her earlier novels and liked it a lot. I've heard good things about this one, too!
ReplyDeleteJoanna - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I'll look for your review!
ReplyDeleteDanielle - I need to look for her other novels. This was really a gripping read!
That does sound excellent! It's a gripping title, too.
ReplyDeleteEngrossing~ you picked the right word for this one. I could not put it down and found myself thinking about it when I wasn't reading. Very disturbing to actually think that young girls and wives were put away like this in years past. Not a far-fetched tale at all.
ReplyDeleteoakling - It really is a fascinating little book - hard to put down!
ReplyDeletePaula - It makes you wonder about the ethics of the doctors, doesn't it? Even later in the century, there are examples of people who signed themselves in and were unable to leave. Terrifying.
Oh! I had forgotten about this book! I really want to read it, more so now.
ReplyDeleteDewey - For such a quick read, it has a long lasting impression.
ReplyDelete