The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell was borrowed from a friend.The novel is beautifully written with lovely descriptions, but the story left me a little baffled. Esme Lennox was not what her parents thought of as normal and in the 1930s attention deficit disorder was unheard of. Eventually, Esme was sent to an institution which apparently wasn't uncommon in those days and even a husband who had grown tired of his wife could commit her with little fuss or explanation. The story follows the lives of Esme and her sister Kitty who herself made many bad choices. Once the institution was scheduled to close its doors and Kitty's granddaughter was asked to take in her Aunt Esme (whom she didn't know existed) some of the secrets come to light. The ending was the most confusing part and I felt it left a lot of questions unanswered. I would have preferred that the reader was privy to the conversation between the two sisters. In fact I wasn't too sure what actually happened and searched Google for a response from other readers. Ending comments (spoiler) here.
This would be a good book group choice - lots to discuss throughout the story.
