The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

By: Maggie O'Farrell

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

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)

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.

It got better as it went

I confess that it took me the first 60% of the book before it really hooked me. Esme's story is a fascinating and tragic one and I do actually wish for more when it comes to Iris and what happens next, but it was pretty hard for me to love the story at the beginning. if you feel that way, just know that the revelations at the end are worth it!

Compelling story.

Very difficult to follow the appropriate character narrator, very little inflection when changing thoughts. It often seemed like a run-on sentence, requiring rewinding & listening again to determine who was speaking & what had changed.

Rip off ending!!!

Great story ith so much potential but the ending is a rip off and there are lots of hanging threads that are never fully explored

Good story. Unfinished ending

Overall, this is a good story & the weaving of the story lines. However, it was very hard to follow as an audible book because there were no pauses or voice change between one persons thoughts/story and the next.

I hated the ending! The ending could have had a little more detail. I won’t give the ending away but the end action could have made for a good ending of the book had it been more story. It’s like the author got tired of writing or had to meet a deadline so the book just ended. There needed to be more story & less “leaving it to the reader’s imagination…”

Story 4 stars
Ending 2 stars
Weaving of the characters stories 4 stars