The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

Maggie O’Farrell’s novel The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, published in 2006, is the author’s fourth novel and tackles the grim history of forced incarcerations of women and the devastating effects of family secrets. O’Farrell’s work often focuses on women trapped physically, emotionally, and psychologically by forces over which they have no control, and this novel is no exception. Through a twisted entanglement of three different perspectives, O’Farrell tells the story of not only Esme Lennox but also two other women whose destinies are inextricably linked to hers. O’Farrell was born in Northern Ireland and has lived in both Wales and Scotland, and uses her knowledge of these unique landscapes to create atmospheric settings for her novels. She published her debut novel After You’d Come in 2000 and has since published seven more novels, one memoir, and one children’s book. Her novel Hamnet won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020 and her most recent novel The Marriage Portrait was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year in 2022.

This guide is based on the 2006 ebook edition published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Content Warning: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox includes child death, demonization of mental illness, a relationship between former stepsiblings, and the sexual assault of a teenage girl.