Friday, February 8, 2008

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox



I finished this book on Friday night. It was different but I liked it. The only thing you have to really pay attention to is who is talking, the author bounces back and forth between characters. Here is an Amazon book review:

From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. O'Farrell (After You'd Gone) delivers an intricate, eloquent novel of family malice, longings and betrayal. Slim, stylish Iris Lockhart runs a dress shop in contemporary Edinburgh when she's not flirting with her stepbrother Alex or rendezvousing with her married attorney lover, Luke. Esme Lennox, meanwhile, is ready to be discharged from the soon-to-be-closed psychiatric hospital where she's been a patient (read: virtual prisoner) for 61 years. Iris becomes aware of Esme's existence when she's informed, to her disbelief, that she has been granted power of attorney over Esme by Kitty Lockhart, Iris's Alzheimer's-afflicted grandmother. It turns out Kitty and Esme are sisters, but Kitty kept quiet about Esme after she was hospitalized at age 16. Layer upon layer of Lockhart family secrets are laid bare—the truth behind Esme's institutionalization, why her existence was kept a secret, and a twist involving Iris's parents—as Iris mulls over what to do with her new charge, and Esme and Kitty reconnect. O'Farrell maintains a high level of tension throughout, and the conclusion is devastating. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

3 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this book. It was different. I pictured the Redgrave sisters playing the roles of Esme and her sister as adults!

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  2. Mary,

    I agree with you about the Redgrave sisters playing the roles of Esme and her sister as adults! It was different but good.

    Sherri

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  3. I've heard about this book - mostly on Booklovers! - and it sounds interesting. I'll have to add it to my wish list.

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