Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

A Wall Street Journal Bestseller

A Washington Post Book World Best Book of the Year

"I found this actually unputdownable, written with a gripping dramatic insidiousness reminiscent of classic writers like Rebecca West and Daphne Du Maurier." --Ali Smith, author of The Accidental

Esme Lennox is a dreamy child, an odd, bookish young woman, the kind of girl who stares and listens and wont flirt with boys at dances. And then, in the space of a moment, Esme Lennox is gone.

Years later, a stunning phone call breaks the silence at Iris Lockharts vintage clothing shop: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital after more than sixty years. Iriss grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esmes papers prove she is Kittys sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esmes face. But she's still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, sure to bring life-altering secrets when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?

"Haunting. O'Farrell is a feminist avenging angel who wields the modern Gothic like a gleaming sword." – The Boston Globe

"Think Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Charlotte Gilman's ‘The Yellow Wallpaper or Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea . . . It's a breathtaking, heart-breaking creation . . . In O'Farrell's fierce, engrossing novel, the crimes of the past rear up with surprising vengeance." – The Washington Post Book World

Maggie O'Farrell is the author of three previous novels, including her acclaimed debut, After You'd Gone. Born in Northern Ireland in 1972, Maggie grew up in Wales and Scotland. She now lives in Edinburgh.

Visit www.HarcourtBooks.com/EsmeLennox.

Discussion guide available at www.HarcourtBooks.com.

"Almost ridiculously pleasurable . . . shocking, heartbreaking, and fascinating." --The Times (London)

From the New York Times best-selling author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait comes a gothic, intricate tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the freedom brought by truth.

"I found this actually unputdownable . . . Reminiscent of classic writers like Rebecca West and Daphne du Maurier."--Ali Smith, author of Autumn

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.

Iris's grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esme's papers prove she is Kitty's sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme's face.

Esme has been labeled harmless--sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But she's still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?

"Think Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Charlotte Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper' or Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea . . . It's a breathtaking, heart-breaking creation."--The Washington Post Book World

A Wall Street Journal Bestseller

A Washington Post Book World Best Book of the Year

"I found this actually unputdownable, written with a gripping dramatic insidiousness reminiscent of classic writers like Rebecca West and Daphne Du Maurier." --Ali Smith, author of The Accidental

Esme Lennox is a dreamy child, an odd, bookish young woman, the kind of girl who stares and listens and wont flirt with boys at dances. And then, in the space of a moment, Esme Lennox is gone.

Years later, a stunning phone call breaks the silence at Iris Lockharts vintage clothing shop: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital after more than sixty years. Iriss grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esmes papers prove she is Kittys sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esmes face. But she's still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, sure to bring life-altering secrets when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?

"Haunting. O'Farrell is a feminist avenging angel who wields the modern Gothic like a gleaming sword." - The Boston Globe

"Think Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Charlotte Gilman's ‘The Yellow Wallpaper or Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea . . . It's a breathtaking, heart-breaking creation . . . In O'Farrell's fierce, engrossing novel, the crimes of the past rear up with surprising vengeance." - The Washington Post Book World

Maggie O'Farrell is the author of three previous novels, including her acclaimed debut, After You'd Gone. Born in Northern Ireland in 1972, Maggie grew up in Wales and Scotland. She now lives in Edinburgh.

Visit www.HarcourtBooks.com/EsmeLennox.

Discussion guide available at www.HarcourtBooks.com.

"This haunting and extraordinarily engrossing novel--part gothic mystery, part tangled family drama--reminded me why I love reading in the first place: it's because a well-written book has the power to carry us away to a place we've never been but always suspected was there." -- Carolyn Parkhurst, author of THE DOGS OF BABEL

"I found this actually unputdownable, written with charge and energy and a kind of compelling drive, a clarity and a gripping dramatic insidiousness reminiscent of classic writers like Rebecca West and Daphne Du Maurier." --Ali Smith, author of Hotel World and The Accidental

"Prickly, disturbing and delicious, a novel to gulp in a single sitting." -- The Observer

"Like Sarah Waters or Douglas Kennedy [O’Farrell] displays a gift for storytelling that makes her novels almost ridiculously pleasurable to read." – The London Times

"Beneath the cool Edwardian detail of this elegantly written book lie the horrors of a Gothic novel." -- The Guardian  "I would like to think that families only behave this way in books, but unfortunately betrayal, jealousy, and secrets are all too common in real life. It was a terrific book, I will be thinking about it for a long time." -- Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife

Iriss grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esmes papers prove she is Kittys sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esmes face. 

Esme has been labeled harmless—sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But she's still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?

A gothic, intricate tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the freedom brought by truth, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox will haunt you long past its final page.

Chic and independent, Iris Lockhart is tending to her vintage-clothing shop in Edinburgh (and evading her married boyfriend) when she 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 years. Iriss grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esmes papers prove she is Kittys sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her father in Esmes face. Esme has been labeled harmless—sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world—but she's still basically a stranger, a family member hidden away who will surely bring secrets with her when she leaves the ward. Moving expertly among the voices of Iris, Kitty, and Esme herself, Maggie O'Farrell reveals the story of Esme's tragic and haunting absence.