The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

Synopsis from Goodreads

In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage-clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’s attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital—where she has been locked away for more than sixty-one years.

Iris’s grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esme’s papers prove she is Kitty’s sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme’s face.

Esme has been labeled harmless—sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But she's still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?

A gothic, intricate tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the freedom brought by truth, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox will haunt you long past its final page.

My review

Well I've recently finished this one and I'm in the Liked It camp. It was odd there not being any chapters and the way it was set out with more than one person narrating the story at times had you thinking who was telling what side of the story. I liked the way it was quite sparsely written and it gives us the reader room to interpret the story as we want to in our own heads. I don't always need the story to go into great detail and reveal everything. I felt sorry for Esme as I felt that she was the one who'd been wronged by her Family. I think Kitty could've done with more of a backbone but she was a scheming little minx who was jealous of her younger sister and was happy to let her Parents put her sister away and was very instrumental in it.

Unlike some I did like the fact that the story about Iris and her relationships, weren't made more of as these were only a side story to the main one that was being played out. I do agree it did end rather abruptly but again what more would you expect when it's been written in that way all the way through, it leaves us to draw our own conclusions.