The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

By: Maggie O'Farrell

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Iris Lockhart is busy tending to the everyday business of her vintage clothing shop and her complicated love affairs when she receives a stunning phone call. Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never even knew existed, is being released from a psychiatric hospital where she has been locked away for over 60 years.

Esme has been labeled harmless, sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But why has her family never mentioned her, and what is the secret or her virtually wiped-out past? If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?

Weaving Esme's tragic story together with Iris's modern dilemmas, O'Farrell's intricate cross-generational tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the complex longings of women will haunt readers long past its final page.

©2006 Maggie O'Farrell (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

• Nominee, 2008 Audie Award, Fiction

"[A]n intricate, eloquent novel of family malice, longings, and betrayal....O'Farrell maintains a high level of tension throughout, and the conclusion is devastating." (Publishers Weekly)
"O'Farrell's fourth novel brilliantly illustrates her talent for gradually revealing her characters' inner lives....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)

Great story but audiobook could have been better.

I loved the characters and the story. But the audiobook was difficult to follow. There were 3 characters narrating: Iris, Esme and Kitty. Esme and Kitty sounded alike and there was sometimes nothing to cue which character was narrating.

listen and read

A very unique and cleverly written story. Short but gets to the premise in a very entertaining way. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

What is it with British reticence?

As usual in so many novels set in the early and mid 20th century UK, no one is willing to explain to anybody else what's going on — in this case about social niceties, sex, sexual assault, innermost thoughts, or fears — so disaster ensues and engulfs a family. It's absorbing. And the time was, not so many decades ago, when the story would have been horrifying. But in the new millennium, when so much candor prevails at least among the literate, it's hard not to feel fed up with all the repression. By the way, I had no difficulty figuring out what happens at the end, unlike at least one commentator online. I did have trouble keeping track of who was related to whom and at what remove. That's often a challenge with an audiobook. The narrator was quite good — calm, mature, and deep-voiced. Keep Anne Flosnick in mind if you're sensitive to the quality of narration.

Confusing.

Hard to keep up with. Time changes all ran together and ending was just weird.

poor editing

It was truly
hard to discern which characters were talking or thinking or being discussed.

Disappear from Memory

This book was fine as an audio book, not fantastic. Nothing I can point to as being bad about it, possibly just slightly unsatisfying in the end.

good natration, bad ending

the narrator was very good, although there was no differentiating between characters talking. that was confusing. I was super disappointed with the abrupt ending. no closure really.

who is speaking and where are we now?

a complex narrative perhaps better read rather than experienced audibly. the constant shifts in time and place make it difficult to follow.

Well worth the listen

This story is read from the point of view of 3 characters and it is sometimes confusing which one you are hearing. But other than that this is a great story and I enjoyed it a lot.

Enthralling

Excellent narration of a well paced story that kept my interest. Esme, Iris, Kitty-3 fascinating women whose lives are linked in ways that are revealed layer by layer. I enjoyed every moment