In the middle of an average work day, Iris Lockhart receives a phone call that changes her life forever. She is informed that Esme Lennox, a great aunt she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital—a mental institute where she’s been locked up for sixty-one years, five months and four days. Iris is shocked. Her grandmother always claimed to be an only child. If Iris claims Esme and takes her into her home, what other secrets will Esme reveal?

I’m not certain if I loved this book or hated this book. It is undeniably well written and extremely compelling, but it is also not an easy book to read. Esme Lennox’s story is on that will grab you and hold tight, prodding you to read on until you’ve finished the last page. Then, it will haunt you.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is part mystery, part family drama. It’s incredibly sad yet mesmerizing. If you need a happily ever after, this isn’t the book for you. However, if you want a book you will remember reading long after you’ve closed the cover pick up Maggie O’Farrell’s The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.