The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell
Release date: 2006 / 245 pages
First line: “Let us begin with two girls at a dance”.
Synopsis (from back cover): In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage-clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’s attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital — where she has been locked away for more than sixty-one years.
Review: Well, it’s been awhile since a novel has fallen victim to the 50 page rule, but I’m afraid O’Farrell’s novel did just that. I started Vanishing Act two weeks ago and just couldn’t get into it. So, last Saturday I started over and quickly understood why this is not a “20 pages before bed” kind of book.
The narrative jumps from the childhood of Esme — very unhappy — to her present life in a mental institution, and then to the present life of Iris, Esme’s distant relative, who is also living what seems to be an unfulfilled and unhappy life.
Now I hope it is clear from earlier reviews that I actually enjoy bleak, brooding, even what some would consider a bit depressing, fiction. In fact, the novel began with one of my favorite poems by one of my favorite poets Emily Dickinson:
Much Madness is divinest Sense –
To a discerning eye –
Much Sense — the starkest Madness –
‘Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail –
Assent — and you are sane –
Demur — and you’re straightaway dangerous –
And handled with a Chain –
But despite the wonderful choice of poetry and intriguing premise, something about the writing was too disjointed and abrupt. For instance, notice the following sentences:
Perhaps it was this.
The binding is a scarf that belongs to her mother.
The room is full.
They are talking, on and on.
Suddenly and without warning, they all get up.
These sentences were on the same page and just seemed too declarative — or simplistic — or something – that prevented me from getting into the flow of O’Farrell’s prose and therefore the flow of the characters’ lives. Plus, I simply didn’t care about either woman… So, the 50 page rule freed me to embark on…
Then She Found Me by Elinor Lipman
Release date: 1990 / 307 pages
First line: “My biological mother was seventeen when she had me in 1952, and even that was more than I wanted to know about her.”
Synopsis (from back cover): For years, April Epner has taught Latin in a suburban Boston high school, grown used to having her evenings free, and avoided thinking too much about the facts of her adoption thirty-six earlier. Now Bernice Graverman, the flamboyant hostess of a T.V. talk show — the kind of woman whose wardrobe is dictated by a set designer and whose restaurant conversation is intended for the next table — comes hurtling full force into April’s small life. With her she brings startling news: She is April’s birth mother.
Review: As usual, I have no idea where I stumbled upon this novel, but it was a delight. Amusing, engaging, original – on one level it was a hero’s journey (for the mother more than the daughter) and on another level it was a love story (for the daughter more than the mother). In this case, the synopsis really does provide a true sense of what awaits the reader. So, if the plot sounds good, you’ll most likely enjoy it (the characterization and writing are very satisfactory, too).
My one reservation concerned a quirky use of quotation marks — or rather, a quirky lack of quotation marks. Normally this could indicate a character’s thoughts… Or a dialogue continued? But this wasn’t consistently the case. However, this did not diminish my enjoyment of this delightful little novel. And when I went to the library the day after I had returned it, I noticed someone else had already requested it!
Well, I hope everyone is able to spend some time reading this Sunday! I’m hoping to finish Jennifer Weiner’s Certain Girls, myself… 
