The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Softcover

O'Farrell, Maggie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0755334809 ISBN 13: 9780755334803

Publisher: Headline Review, 2007

Synopsis

A significant departure for Maggie O'Farrell in terms of maturity and style, THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX will be one of the unmissable publishing events of 2006.

Set between the 1930s,and the present, Maggie O'Farrell's new novel is the story of Esme, a woman edited out of her family's history, and of the secrets that come to light when, sixty years later, she is released from care, and a young woman, Iris, discovers the great aunt she never knew she had. The mystery that unfolds is the heartbreaking tale of two sisters in colonial India and 1930s Edinburgh - of the loneliness that binds them together and the rivalries that drive them apart, and lead one of them to a shocking betrayal - but above all it is the story of Esme, a fiercely intelligent, unconventional young woman, and of the terrible price she is made to pay for her family's unhappiness.

About this title

Review:

Actually unputdownable, written with charge and energy and a kind of compelling drive, a clarity and a gripping dramatic insidiousness reminiscent of classic Daphne du Maurier (Ali Smith)

O'Farrell's subtlety and delicate touch have never been so finely demonstrated (Independent on Sunday)

Mesmerisingly good (Daily Mail)

O'Farrell's story-telling skills ensure that this novel is compulsively readable, and delivers strong emotional punch (Telegraph)

From the Publisher:

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is, quite simply, electric: the most breathtaking novel you will read this year. With passion and exquisite control, it reveals the story of Esme, an unhappy child in colonial India, and later a troubled young woman in 1930s Edinburgh, who tragically does not fit into that straight-laced world, and of the devastating decision her family makes when this situation becomes a crisis. It shows us how her family closes around this terrible secret – so that when, many years later, a young woman, Iris, gets a call from a psychiatric hospital saying they are about to release Esme, Iris has genuinely never heard of her – and how Iris and Esme piece together a story as heartbreaking as it is shocking.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox sees Maggie O’Farrell mark out her own unique imaginative territory. It is a book that will delight all her legions of existing fans, with a maturity and power that will bring her to a whole new readership

About this edition

• Publisher: Headline Review
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0755334809
• ISBN 13: 9780755334803
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288