Maggie O'Farrell

Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

Esme Lennox is a dreamy, bookish young woman, the kind of girl who stares and listens and won’t flirt with boys. And then, in the space of a moment, she disappears. Years later, a stunning phone call breaks the silence at Iris Lockhart’s vintage shop: her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital after sixty-one years. Iris’s grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child, but Esme’s papers prove she is Kitty’s sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in her face. Still, she’s basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, sure to bring life-altering secrets when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

kyra

** spoiler alert **
           I started reading this novel for my book club without even checking the description - and this was the best way to have consumed it, just letting the novel taking you with it.
All themes are beautifully addressed - family, betrayal, self expression, agency, patriarchy, freedom. The switching narrative - in time, and in person - was fantastic. 
How patriarchy still is prelevant, across 3 generations, just in different ways is horrifying! 
The ending, oh, how I loved and hated it. Just really happy that Esme finally has a family member who is willing to hold her hand. 
Just unsure about a few open points - Iris & Alex? The dress mentioned in the beginning?

Julia A.

Olivera Mitić

Trojka, ali jaka (možda čak i 3.75, ali nedovoljno da je zaokružim na četvorku). 

Ovo je pre svega bilo izuzetno čitljivo - delom zato što je jako kratko i kompaktno, a delom i zato što stalno vuče to pitanje šta će biti na kraju. Naglasiću to "šta će biti na kraju", jer je dobar deo onoga što je prethodilo u neku ruku predvidivo. Ako ste ikada gledali neki film na ovu foru ili čitali nešto slično, znaćete otprilike sve etape priče i samo ćete čekati da se dogodi ono što mora da se dogodi kako biste se približili tom razrešenju. 

Obrnuto od onoga kako je trebalo, mene je zapravo mnogo više zanimala Ajrisina priča. Razlog ovako, uslovno rečeno, niske ocene je i taj što njena sudbina i ne dobije neku završnicu. Kraj je dosta otvoren, a Megi O'Farel vam kaže pozz i napušta scenu baš onda kad se očekivalo da raspetlja sve ono što je zapetljavala. 

Možda je moja glavna kritika zapravo ta da roman nema dobru strukturu. U ovih dvestotinak strana ima dobre priče, ali ona prosto ne dolazi toliko do izražaja koliko bi mogla da je tok radnje više linearan, uz tek po koji flešbek. A Megi voli da se frlja s perspektivama i priča čas iz jednog, čas iz drugog ugla da bi kao gradila tenziju and that's the tea on that.

Yasemin

Duarte

From the Costa Award winning, bestselling author of THIS MUST BE THE PLACE and I AM, I AM, I AM, comes an intense, breathtakingly accomplished story of a woman's life stolen, and reclaimed. 'Unputdownable' Ali Smith Edinburgh in the 1930s. The Lennox family is having trouble with its youngest daughter. Esme is outspoken, unconventional, and repeatedly embarrasses them in polite society. Something will have to be done. Years later, a young woman named Iris Lockhart receives a letter informing her that she has a great-aunt in a psychiatric unit who is about to be released. Iris has never heard of Esme Lennox and the one person who should know more, her grandmother Kitty, seems unable to answer Iris's questions. What could Esme have done to warrant a lifetime in an institution? And how is it possible for a person to be so completely erased from a family's history?

Steve Parks

Jerilynn Hallett 

anna

Rebecca Grandison 

Angela

Luke Rigby

Jessica Ford

Jaymie Lemke

Rebecca Bream

Vicki Grever

Sabine Delorme

Steven O'Toole

Eleanor 

Lisa Miller

Mary Coggins

Iris Lockhart receives news that her great-aunt Esme is being released from Cauldstone Hospital, where she has been confined for more than sixty years, and soon discovers that Esme holds the key to long-hidden family secrets that could change her life for

Jan Talkington

Joanna Kacz

Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

Reviews