Finished November 25
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
This novel both fascinates and horrifies. Esme Lennox was born in India and came to Scotland with her family as a schoolgirl, following her brother's death from typhoid. Esme is a non-conformist, good in school but not popular with her fellow students. They make fun of her for her lack of social skills, but don't really try to get to know her. She is close to her older sister Kitty, but it is Kitty that eventually betrays her secrets. Her defiance of social norms and independents spirit eventually cause her parents to put her into a mental hospital at the age of sixteen, and she does not get released until the hospital is closing more than sixty years later. The story goes back and forth between the past, the ramblings of her sister (who has Alzheimers), and the present. I could barely put this book down.
Highly recommended.
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