O’Farrell’s novel is steeped in secrets. As the story of Esme and Kitty unfolds simultaneously with the story of Iris and Alex, O’Farrell offers clues about the true nature of the relationships between these characters. What effect does this have on your compassion for them? How do these two stories relate to each other? I love haunting and intriguing novels and The vanishing Acts of Esme Lennox was exactly what I love. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is a story that revolves around themes of family secrets, social injustice, jealousy, trauma, and victimhood. Moreover, the history of Victorian mental asylums and the ‘myths’ of hysteria in women during the early 20th century. The narrative focuses on the effect the dynamic within the family has on an individual and their response thereof. Hence the story which charts two generations in a family showcases the burden of family secrets and trauma.

Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture also features the mysteries surrounding an elderly woman who's lived most of her life in such an institution that is about to be closed down. See my review, HERE. What Maggie O’Farrell gives us is Esme’s story, which is a sad and infuriating one, and Iris’s story which has at least one sad element of its own. Neither of these women does exactly what people expect of them, and one of them has paid a price beyond belief for being independent and different. What ensues is the story of Esme, the unforgiveable decisions taken, the resolute and ill placed righteousness of the people who judged her insane, the people who watched and did nothing, and the disclosure of events that led to her incarceration. However, the undercurrent of mental health versus "being different" continues as a thread through the novel and suggests that Esme is a product of her own family’s vulnerabilities and shaped by family traits passed from generation to generation as the dark and mysterious past and untold secrets are unspooled with devastating consequences. Iris’s story grabbed me, too. She’s so earnest, curious, wary, and overwhelmed. And she has her own secrets. But never mind her various interesting feelings—just imagine having a stranger who has spent 60 years in a loony bin come stay with you! That, right there. THAT! That’s what has me bowing to O’Farrell. What an irresistible storyline she has created! Julia Scheeres from the New York Times writes 'Maggie O’Farrell takes the notion of the loony relative and turns it on its head. What if, against all the odds, the apparently batty aunt might actually be normal and everybody else seems to be nuts?...O’Farrell is a very visual writer, creating dead-on images like the “arched pink rafters” of a dog's mouth and a chandelier's “points of light kaleidoscoping” above a dance floor. This talent serves her well at the novel's startling and darkly rewarding finale. Suffice it to say, sometimes revenge is much more therapeutic than forgiveness.' [3]

Browse members by letter

There are scandals (yet a strange relationship in the contemporary story is barely portrayed as such because social mores have changed), but it’s the other meaning of “sensation” that matters. Throughout her life, Esme deconstructs sights and sounds, and is profoundly aware of tactile sensations. They are a form of self-soothing in the moment and, as memory hooks, they’re a source of comfort and sometimes pain. Her traumas, exacerbated by a code of silence, are explored via touch and the remembrance of it. why ) but they forget about her. The family goes on a trip and leaves Esme , as they don’t want to deal with her, home with the nursemaid and her baby brother Hugo. While they are gone, the unthinkable happens , and Esme is alone for several days and traumatized by what has happened. The cruelty continues and Esme mother won’t speak to her or even look at her. The relationship between the sisters is very complicated. In what ways does it change as they enter adulthood? MY THOUGHTS: It is many years since I first read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell. While I may have forgotten the plot, I had not forgotten how bittersweet, sad, touching, yet absolutely magnificent this book was.

How does Esme and Kitty’s secret change things for Iris? Is Alex right when he tells Iris, “It’s only ever been you and you know it’s only ever been me”? Now that the full weight of Esme’s tragedy has unfolded, do you think Iris will choose to be with him or with Luke? 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." Around this time there were stories circulating about some of these women - they tended to be female, more often than not - who had been put away in their youth for reasons of immorality. They had shown too much interest in boys, or not enough; they had had an affair or even got themselves pregnant. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is a novel by Northern Irish author Maggie O'Farrell, published in 2006 by Headline Review, concerning three generations of a Scottish family.

Clip

I have no idea how Maggie Farrell came up with this idea, but it was certainly interesting. How anyone in their right mind could be bored by this novel would be a mystery to me. She hears trees crying as they leak rubber, tunes out conversation, and is the only blurry person in a family photo. Esme Lennox's story is a tragic one and it brings up how easily men, and families, disposed of the women who didn't conform, who were different. I thought to myself, this novel is going to gut me and leave me emotionally deplete. Incredibly enough, it didn't happen. It had many ingredients that made it very readable, some confusing paragraphs, side romances and a brusque, vague ending, which was anti-climatic. THE AUTHOR: Born in Northern Ireland in 1972, MAGGIE O'FARRELL grew up in Wales and Scotland and now lives in London. She has worked as a waitress, chambermaid, bike messenger, teacher, arts administrator, and journalist in Hong Kong and London, and as the deputy literary editor of The Independent on Sunday. How did you find the end of the book? Can you think of any alternative endings that might have worked?