The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, follows Edinburgh woman Iris as she discovers a relative she never knew existed.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, by Maggie O’Farrell, draws the reader into its world of family secrets and betrayal. Unfortunately, despite the compelling build up, rhe payoff isn’t as satisfactory as one hopes it will be. This isn’t to say it’s a bad book – it’s worth reading – but it simply isn’t spectacular.

The Plot

Iris, a thirtysomething single woman living in Edinburgh, has a relatively uncomplicated life. Sure, her lover Luke is married, but she spends more time with her stepbrother Alex and running her vintage clothing shop.

But life has a funny way of growing complicated quickly. Iris learns that she has a relative she never knew about – her grandmother’s sister, Esme, who has been living in an asylum for 61 years. The asylum is closing, and Esme is deemed “safe”, so they contact Iris to make Esme’s living arrangements. As there’s nowhere for Esme to go right away, to the horror of Alex and Luke, Iris brings Esme home with her for the weekend.

Telling the Story

One of the more interesting aspects about the novel is the way it’s told from different perspectives. It’s a short novel, but the multiple tellings actually give the book more detail. In contemporary Edinburgh (Iris’s story) and the back-in-time segments (Esme’s childhood until age sixteen), the novel is written in third person. But interspersed are Esme’s sister Kitty’s rambling thoughts – she has Alzheimer’s but remembers certain aspects of the past quite clearly.

Though Kitty’s words are intriguing, some of her thoughts that are meant to be mysterious end up being a bit predictable. The reader can see many of the “twists” coming. In fact, unlike some novels where the major plot turns are the most interesting, in The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox it’s the simpler moments that prove to be the best. A young Esme meeting a boy who’s intrigued with her, for example, prove to be some of the most compelling scenes; as well as the quiet moments when Iris shoes Esme where she lives and when Iris takes Esme to lunch and the sea.

The Writing

The writing stands out because instead of being written in past tense, the story is written in the present tense. This gives it an urgent feeling. The writing is also very melodic, and often beautiful even in the tragic moments.

It would have been nice for the characters in the contemporary scenes to be a bit more developed. In this novel, O’Farrell seems to have a penchant for writing the past more than the present. Esme’s parents and childhood contemporaries aren’t in the novel any more or less than Luke or Alex, yet they seem deeper, more nuanced than the present-day characters.

There’s a theme of women’s roles and how women are treated and perceived – in the 1930s a stubborn, free-spirited woman could be considered “unstable”. Iris has the freedom to choose her life, a freedom that Esme lacked, and yet she’s settled on being a married man’s mistress. The theme could have been explored a little further, it’s inferred but there’s room for deeper exploration.

About the Author

In addition to The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, O’Farrell has written several novels, including the acclaimed After You’d Gone – another novel that’s told from multiple points of view, back and forth in time.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

Maggie O’Farrell

Harcourt, October 2007

Hardcover (soon to be available in paperback), 256 pages

ISBN-10: 0151014116

For lighter UK fiction, read the review of Asking For Trouble: A Novel.