THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX by Maggie O'Farrell (fic) 245 pp

Iris Lockart runs a vintage clothing shop in Edinburgh.  She has a complicated relationship with her step-brother Alex.  She is trying to sort out her feelings toward Alex and Luke with whom she is having an affair, when into her life walks Esme Lennox, a grand-aunt who she never knew existed.  Esme has been imprisoned in a draconian mental institution for 61 years. That institution is now being closed down. Unbeknown to Alex, she was given power of attorney for Esme when Alex's grandmother (Esme's sister) becomes incapacitated by Alzheimer's. The novel goes back and forth between Esme's story from the 1930s and Alex's in today's world. Esme's story unfolds in the random thoughts floating through both her mind and her sister's.  The reader gradually becomes aware that a dark family secret, stretching back to India where the sister's story begins, is about to unfold.  The tragedy at the center of the novel is the incarceration for life of a young high-spirited girl who most likely today would be diagnosed with Asberger's syndrome or maybe, bi-polar disorder.  O'Farrell an excellent Scottish writer, brings this story to life. I highly recommend this book and believe it would offer a rich topic for discussion is a reading group.