Get Ready to Wake-up

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	• The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox Maggie O'Farrell Harcourt, 2007 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 52 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Get Ready to Wake-up - Good Read

At first the story swung forth and back too much for my reading taste. Still I could not put the book down. The jumbling of words spilling forth as though to free the chains of keeping silent, true deeply pained feelings grabbed tighter my curiosity. Iris, so spunky and spirited appears to be living as she wishes. Alas, as I read it, Iris' true heart feelings are as much of a prisoner to the truth as is her grand-aunt Esme (whose recent living situation has changed.) Esme has been locked up in the "loony bin" for sixty odd years and as the story progresses the reader learns the truth of this very sane and pained old woman. Iris, against her own reason and those of her step-brother Alex, takes Esme in and becomes as enthralled with her as I became. Esme is the victim of "polite society" in the 1930's in Scotland. As much as I reluctantly stayed with the story in the first few chapters, I reluctantly put it down. I wanted to know more about what happened to Esme as well as Iris.

The story certainly reminded me of how we can lie to self, hope to fit in, and deny the truths of spirit in self and others, so easily.

I recommend this book to those who want a good mystery, a strong women's story and a reminder how expressing ourselves can lead to more than we hoped.

Maggie O'Farrell's writing voice is strong, delicate, powerful and poetic.
I am a fan.

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truth is stranger than fiction

I ordered this book when I read a review in my local paper.
It sounded very interesting and powerful.
The book did not dissapoint. It is a sad reflection on the state of mental health in our times.
It is powerful read. It makes you ache for Esme, who was born and raised in a society that was so lost in our abilities to see her for who she was and who she was not.
The story is touching to any of us who can imagine what it must be like to be treated differently simply because we are not what is expected of us.
I loved this little book. It is on my bookshelf and I would be delighted to recommend it to anyone.

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Could not put down!!

As a writer, I have a hard time finding new authors and books that capture me. Some I enjoy, others I cannot finish. Too much "writerly thought" while reading, I suppose. It's more me than the authors, I'm sure.

O'Farrell's Esme Lennox captured me from the first line of the first page. I didn't even have to read for a page or two to get into it. I loved her prose, her story telling, her incredible talent. I was learning and making note as I read but never disengaged from the story.

This is literary writing meets mainstream at it's best. I found this book, a random but treasured find, at an airport kiosk.

O'Farrell treats the reader with intelligence. She enters the scenes already "in action" then exists just before our attention can wane. She lets us figure out these characters as if they are real people. In life, we don't always understand each other, or know the secrets of our lives. This is the kind of brilliant story O'Farrell paints.

I've found a new author with a backlist for me to catch up on.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is a great read. I highly recommend this book and this author.

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A Thoroughly Engrossing Novel

Of course I'm a sucker for any novel having to do with pre-WWII England, Scotland and Ireland. This novel is exceptionally well-done, however. I was so into reading it while riding the bus to and from work that I missed my stop. Not once, but twice. Some fleshing-out of Esme's sixty-plus years in the nutjob hospital might have been an interesting addition, but overall, I would highly recommend this book.

I'm in awe

I read My Lover's Lover and thought it was really good and way above the fiction that is out there today and then just finished this one and I'm completely in awe of Maggie O'Farrel and her incredible gift of not just writing but story telling. This one just wrenches at all heart strings in so many ways and the tears weren't far away either as Esme reenters the world after 60s years of being a "dead" to the world, and not just dead but it's like she never existed even with her family, forgotten forever and then Iris! Books like this don't come along that often and even rare these days. Love it!

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reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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recommendations

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