Book Review: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
I loved this book, it started quickly and to the point. It is a short work so I suppose build up and time is spared, this does not detract from the quality of writing. The telling of Esme's backstory unfolds over the course of the book, at the same time drives forward from the point of now. I found the rambling short bursts of her sister Kitty the most moving, this writing shows the secret locked in world of those suffering Alzheimer's Disease, how a person can forget their current situation, getting stuck on the most simple responses, like 'Do I like yogurt?', but can recall in depth incidents from decades ago. I attended a dementia talk recently and heard how powerful our emotional memory can be. I'm not sure how much sympathy I held for Kitty in her youth, but looking in at her as an aged old lady in a nursing home she struck a vulnerable figure. Esme herself does not give much away but when she does, gosh, it is heartbreaking. When she is being d