Nancy Pearl's Book Reviews for 5/12/2008

Listen

Maggie O'Farrell's The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (Harcourt, 2007) is sad and haunting, but at the same time it's somehow redemptive in its portrait of a woman who holds onto her sense of self through decades of incarceration in a mental hospital. Or does she? Each reader will have to make her own judgment. Set in present–day Edinburgh with long flashbacks to a time – the first few decades of the 20th century – when young women were still expected to behave according to rigid standards of right and wrong, and those who didn't adhere to societal (and their families') codes of behavior, expectation, and social mores were severely punished, we learn that independent and high spirited Esme Lennox was sent away by her family to a psychiatric facility when she was 16, never to be mentioned by them again. When the hospital she's been living at for over 60 years is finally closed, her existence comes as a total shock to her great niece, Iris, named on hospital papers as the person to call in an emergency. Iris, who runs a vintage clothing store, dallies with married men, and remains close to her brother, Alex, brings Esme home with her until she can find her another place to live. The meeting of the two sets in motion events that will gradually uncover long hidden (and maybe, blessingy, best forgotten) Lennox family secrets. Some of the story is told through the disconnected memories of Iris's grandmother (and Esme's sister), Kitty, who's suffering from Alzheimer's. How much of what she says can really be believed? The denouement of this slim, emotionally intense novel, is, quite simply, stunning. This novel, Farrell's third, reminded me in many ways of Josephine Hart's The Reconstructionist, another novel about family secrets. Book clubs take note.

From its Botticelli–like young woman portrayed on the cover to its compelling plot line, Dia Calhoun's Aria of the Sea (FSG, 2003) is a winner from the first page to the last. Teen girls, especially, will appreciate and empathize with Cerinthe, the main character, who wants desperately to be a dancer (the dream her mother had for her), but whose strongest talents lie in another direction entirely. Although this is set in an imaginary world, readers will find that Cerinthe's story, from her mother's death and her consequent decision to ignore her talents as a healer and try to follow her dream as a dancer, entirely realistic and totally believable. (Her experiences at the school of dance she attends are not unlike what the young actors and dancers went through in the movie Fame.) Cerinthe's strengths, how she comes to understand herself and her gifts, how she deals with her closest dance competitor (and all around not–so–nice girl) Eliana, add depth and resonance to this coming of age tale.

Nancy Pearl is a librarian with a love of books so strong it has been officially classified as lust. Author of two books, Book Lust and More Book Lust, Nancy joins Megan Sukys every Monday on Sound Focus to share the most recent books to tickle her fancy.

• Search Nancy Pearl in KUOW archives
• Check out Nancy's website

For more information on past reviews, please contact: