"The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox" is a modern fiction book by author Maggie O'Farrell. You can buy a copy of the book online at www.amazon.co.uk for around £5. There is also a kindle edition available to buy for around the same price. (Prices as @ January 2012). * SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK * Iris is a young woman who receives notification out of the blue that her great-aunt, a lady called Esme Lennox, is about to be released from a Psychiatric Unit, where she has been imprisoned against her will since her childhood. As Iris is her next of kin, the responsibility for Esme's welfare and care sits with her. "Iris has ...  Read the complete review

The mental institution that housed Euphemia Esme Lennox since she was 16 is closing down. After over 60 years being there, Esme has almost no relatives that can be called upon to help. The one person they find is her great-niece, Iris Lockheart. The problem is that Iris didn't even know Esme existed, so she has a double dilemma - what to do with her elderly great-aunt, and how can she find out why the family never mention her. This is the basis for Maggie O'Farrell's novel "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox". The phrase "once in a blue moon" comes to mind when I think about this book. I say that because it is only that often that one ...  Read the complete review

This is a review of the 2006 book 'The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox' by Maggie O'Farrell. I saw a synopsis of the book and decided right there and then that I wanted to read it. The book tackles an emotive issue, of those people who have been in care for the majority of their lives and sometimes they were placed in mental institutions for the wrong reasons. Men could have their wives and daughters sectioned and detained in hospital with just their permission and a doctor's signature. Setting The book is set in the modern day with flashbacks to 1930s Edinburgh. There are three generations in the story although the middle generation is only mentioned in ...  Read the complete review

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is an adept and cleverly written novel which takes place over three main time periods and involves three main characters. This complex and interesting story begins in modern day Scotland, where a young, very modern woman named Iris is portrayed in her shop with an unsympathetic attitude and hints of an unstable family upbringing. O'Farrell then unravels the ties and loose ends of her history, and introduces the reader to her grandmother, Kitty, who suffers from severe Alzheimer's, and her secret great-aunt, Esme, who has been locked away in a mental institution since adolesence for reasons left unclear until the climatic ending. As the ...  Read the complete review