The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell was first published in 2006. I bought it in Linlithgow in what I think was a temporary bookshop near the palace, and it’s one of those books which was originally given away free for World Book Night 2012.

I hadn’t read anything by the author before but I really liked this one so I’ll definitely be seeking out her other books. In fact I don’t even remember reading about her books on any other book blogs, maybe I’ve just been missing the posts, but the author is obviously well known by others. The blurb on the front says: ‘Almost ridiculously pleasurable…. shocking, heartbreaking and fascinating’ The Times.

This book isn’t a rewrite of The Secret Garden, where I’m sure you’ll remember that the main character is a young girl called Mary Lennox, but it does have many of the same elements. Children brought up in India and sent ‘home’, to a lifestyle which is completely alien to them. In this book it’s Edinburgh which the sisters are sent to. I do love an Edinburgh setting but I think I would have loved this book, no matter where it was set.

Esme is the youngest of two sisters and she just doesn’t fit into her Edwardian family. Her older sister conforms to expectations but Esme has ideas of her own, which are seen as being outrageous. This eventually leads her parents to get rid of their difficult child as best they can, which in those days meant sticking her in an asylum, where she can’t be a social embarrassment to them – out of sight, out of mind. But of course Esme isn’t out of her mind.

I can’t wait to read more by Maggie O’ Farrell, I hope her other books are as good as this one.

So far this Book Night book hasn’t travelled very far, I wonder if anyone does check up to see how far their books reach?

I think I can say that I read this one for the Read Scotland 2015 Challenge as although O’Farrell was born in Northern Ireland she apparently grew up in Wales and Scotland, and of course the setting is mainly Edinburgh.