Book description
From the bestselling, critically acclaimed author of HAMNET and I AM, I AM, I AM, comes an intense, breathtakingly accomplished story of a woman's life stolen, and reclaimed.
'Unputdownable' Ali Smith
Edinburgh in the 1930s. The Lennox family is having trouble with its youngest daughter. Esme is outspoken, unconventional, and…
Why read it?
1 author picked The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
From the outset, I was hooked by the book blurb: the story of someone completely erased from a family’s history.
As someone who loves genealogy research, I know from experience that whole life stories can be wiped out or rewritten in a family. In the book, Esme reappears after a lifetime in an institution, arriving in the life of her great niece, who was unaware she existed.
I loved the interwoven timescales as the author seamlessly takes us from the 1930s to the modern day. It is a beautifully written story of tangled lives and huge emotional trauma. A story…
If you love The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox...
A Particular Man
This book is a literary historical novel. It is set in Britain immediately after World War II, when people – gay, straight, young, and old - are struggling to get back on track with their lives, including their love lives. Because of the turmoil of the times, the number of…
Want books like The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,343
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, you might also like...
Cities of Women
Cities of Women is a dual timeline novel that interweaves the contemporary story of Verity Frazier, a disillusioned professor lacking passion and love in her life, with the tale of a medieval woman, who transforms herself into the artist, Anastasia, an unidentified illuminator of the manuscripts of the historical Christine…
Chariot of the Soul
Set in Britain at the time of the Roman invasion, it is narrated by Togidubnus of the Atrebates, whose mother was a druid and father, King Verica, a strong supporter of Rome. Having spent ten years in Rome being educated by the philosopher Seneca, he comes to rely increasingly on…
