Reviews
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is a strange, sad, and a marvelously well-written novel. I would like to think that families only behave this way in books, but unfortunately betrayal, jealousy, and secrets are all too common in real life. It was a terrific book, I will be thinking about it for a long time., O'Farrell's fourth novel brilliantly illustrates her talent for gradually revealing her characters'inner lives by jumping back and forth in time and juxtaposing different narrative points of view.... A gripping read with superbly crafted scenes that will blaze in the reader's memory long after the novel is returned to the shelf., O'Farrell's fourth novel brilliantly illustrates her talent for gradually revealing her characters' inner lives by jumping back and forth in time and juxtaposing different narrative points of view.... A gripping read with superbly crafted scenes that will blaze in the reader's memory long after the novel is returned to the shelf., PRAISE FORTHE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX "I found this actually unputdownable, written with charge and energy and a kind of compelling drive, a clarity and a gripping dramatic insidiousness reminiscent of classic writers like Rebecca West and Daphne du Maurier." --Ali Smith "Almost ridiculously pleasurable . . . shocking, heartbreaking, and fascinating." --The Times(London), "O''Farrell''s fourth novel brilliantly illustrates her talent for gradually revealing her characters'' inner lives by jumping back and forth in time and juxtaposing different narrative points of view. ...In compelling prose, O''Farrell gradually pieces together the puzzle of Esme''s lifeup to the age of 16, when her cold and repressive parents sent her away to the hospital that is now closing down. Esme had a bold and independent spirit, unseemly for a girl at that time. That as well as a younger brother who died in her arms and a never-mentioned rape contributed to her lost life-- a life ''half strangled by what-ifs.''A gripping read with superbly crafted scenes that will blaze in the reader''s memory long after the novel is returned to the shelf." -- Booklist, PRAISE FOR THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX "I found this actually unputdownable, written with charge and energy and a kind of compelling drive, a clarity and a gripping dramatic insidiousness reminiscent of classic writers like Rebecca West and Daphne du Maurier." --Ali Smith "Almost ridiculously pleasurable . . . shocking, heartbreaking, and fascinating." -- The Times (London), This haunting and extraordinarily engrossing novel--part gothic mystery, part tangled family drama--reminded me why I love reading in the first place: it''s because a well-written book has the power to carry us away to a place we''ve never been but always suspected it was there. I''m grateful to Maggie O''Farrell for revealing this story to the world of readers., This haunting and extraordinarily engrossing novel--part gothic mystery, part tangled family drama--reminded me why I love reading in the first place: it's because a well-written book has the power to carry us away to a place we've never been but always suspected it was there. I'm grateful to Maggie O'Farrell for revealing this story to the world of readers., The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is astrange, sad, and a marvelously well-written novel. I would like to think that families only behave this way in books, but unfortunately betrayal, jealousy, and secrets are all too common in real life. It was a terrific book, I will be thinking about it for a long time., The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is a strange, sad, and a marvelously well-written novel. I would like to think that families only behave this way in books, but unfortunately betrayal, jealousy, and secrets are all too common in real life. It was a terrific book, I will be thinking about it for a long time., O''Farrell''s fourth novel brilliantly illustrates her talent for gradually revealing her characters'' inner lives by jumping back and forth in time and juxtaposing different narrative points of view.... A gripping read with superbly crafted scenes that will blaze in the reader''s memory long after the novel is returned to the shelf.
