The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
Houghton Mifflin 2007
245 pages
Blackstone Audio, 2007
narrated by Anne Flosnik
7 hours and 18 minutes
Maggie O'Farrell was on my 2022 list of Must-Try Authors and this was the perfect place to start - a book that has it all! A propelling plot, fully-developed characters, and beautiful writing made this reading experience a real pleasure. Family secrets, a Victorian insane asylum, and a setting in Scotland further added to the appeal.
I started out reading this book on my kindle, but added in the audio when I discovered that it's currently free in the audible plus catalog. I listened on my walks and read in every spare minute at home. The perfect ending packs a punch! Now I'm ready for more Maggie O'Farrell. Do you have a favorite to recommend?
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
W. W. Norton Company, 2016
(originally published in 1966)
176 pages
Wide Sargasso Sea has been on my wish list and my Classics Club list for years. The novel is, of course, an imagining of Bertha Rochester's life before she became the "madwoman in the attic" in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. It offers the reader an opportunity to look at Brontë’s story from a different perspective. Since I reread Jane Eyre last summer, it made sense to pick up Rhys's novel while the details are still fairly fresh in my mind.
The writing in Wide Sargasso Sea is as lush and atmospheric as its Caribbean setting and is what I most appreciated about the novel. The story shifts viewpoints between Antoinette (as we learn Bertha prefers to be called) and a young Englishman we assume to be Rochester. Both are sympathetically portrayed, especially Antionette, but I found the storyline to be slow and a bit confusing at times.
Pick this up if you love beautiful writing and are curious to learn how the "madwoman" may have come to inhabit Mr. Rochester's attic.
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
St. Martin's Press, 2021
464 pages
audio edition narrated by Julia Whelan
Mcmillan Audio, 2021
15 hours and 2 minutes
This novel of the Dust Bowl novel is the July selection for a library book group I plan to join next week. It's about Elsa Martinelli, a farmer's wife in Texas who, after being abandoned by her husband, takes her two children and leaves to find work/a better life in California.
This story is laden with misery... misery on the farm in Texas as the land gradually dies, misery on the journey west and in the filthy, disease-ridden migrant camps of California, and finally, the misery of surviving at the mercy of big cotton growers. Since this is a Kirstin Hannah novel, the pages turn quickly... but the misery is unrelenting!
I'm sure, for the most part, this is an accurate representation the time, but to me it bordered on being emotionally manipulative. So while I compulsively tore through The Four Winds, it mostly made me want to reread John Steinbeck's classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath. I need to be reminded how a master handles the same subject. I'm also planning to watch The Dust Bowl, Ken Burns PBS documentary.
The top 2 sound like worthy reads. I liked The Four Winds even though it was a darker storyline.
ReplyDeleteDiane - I enjoyed both of them, but had to work a little harder at Wide Sargasso Sea.
DeleteI'm adding Maggie O'"Farrell to my list.
ReplyDeleteMystica - I'll be working my way through all of her books!
DeleteThanks for sharing these. Esme Lennox sounds so good, and I've not heard of it before. I've had Four Winds on my TBR for a while, but not sure I'm mentally prepared for the sadness yet!
ReplyDeleteI'm very intrigued by the Jean Rhys novel. I love everything Jane Eyre, and it would be so interesting to hear from Bertha's point of view. I enjoyed Sarah Shoemaker's Mr. Rochester, which of course was Rochester's life story before and after meeting Jane.
Book of Secrets - Esme Lennox is an older book. I don't remember hearing about it at the time, but Anne Bogel recently mentioned it on her podcast. When it showed up as a kindle daily deal shortly afterwards, I figured it was a sign!
DeleteI'm probably going to reread Wide Sargasso Sea. The writing was just so beautiful, but I need to pay more attention to the plot. Plus, it's pretty short.
I've added Esme Lennox to my list of audio books TBR (TBL?), I'm always looking for good authors and readers while I walk my dog! I absolutely loved O'Farrell's Hamnet which I read with a book group last year. I don't normally love historical fiction based on real people but it blew me away, one of my top reads of the year. The whole group loved it. I also listened to it on audio which was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteKaren - I always listen to audiobooks on my daily walks. Once I got my bearing with Esme Lennox, my walks got longer - always a good sign! O'Farrell's other books have been added to my list, but I think Hamnet will be next. So many have loved it and I'm glad to know your whole group did, too.
DeleteI'm about, I hope, to begin re-reading Jane Eyre and would love to add the Jean Rhys novel to my TBR. I bought the new illustrated version of Jane Eyre by Andrews McMeel Publishing that includes some inserts such as handwritten notes and letters, explanatory notes, and the like. All "aged" to look like it is of the period. It's such a beautiful and clever book that I couldn't resist it. Sorry, though, to see that the style didn't work for you. That makes it sound like a bit of a slog,
ReplyDeleteSam - That sounds like a gorgeous edition of Jane Eyre! I'm sure I'd add it to my collection if I ever run across it in a bookstore. For such a short book, Wide Sargasso Sea took a surprising amount of time to finish. I will likely reread it soon... I'm sure I'd get more out of it the second time, and it wouldn't take nearly as long.
DeleteI'm a Hannah fan so it's interesting to see your take on this. The one she wrote set in AK was also pretty dark. Good to remember that I'll need to be in the mood for that. Another you might like set in that era but that isn't quite as dark is One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Hawkins. Though it's a slow paced story, somehow I couldn't put it down.
ReplyDeleteTerrie - I DNF'd Hannah's Alaska novel, but did like The Nightingale. It's a good idea to save The Four Winds for a time when you can handle the unrelenting heaviness and misfortune. Thanks for mentioning One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow... I will check into it.
DeleteThanks for the visit JoAnn. I just read your review on Hannah's book and left a comment with another book in the same vein that you might enjoy. Happy reading this week!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Terri, I'll check it out!
DeleteI liked The Four Winds, but I agree - it was a lot of misery and that can get draining after awhile!
ReplyDeleteAngela - Reading The Four Winds was pretty draining emotionally...
DeleteSWEET! that the Esme audiobook is available - TY
ReplyDeleteCare - I was pretty surprised to see it in the audible plus catalog... I was ready to us a credit.
DeleteThanks for the heads up about The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox being on the Audible Plus catalog. I am almost done with my current audio, and all my holds at the library are not imminent, so this is perfect time. The fact that it is a favorite was clincher for me!
ReplyDeleteJaneGS - I love audible plus offerings for times like that, and hoopla, too. There are some abrupt changes in POV that threw me initially, but I was able to figure it out before too long.
DeleteI'd like to read the top two novels you mention above but the Hannah novel sounds a bit much. I don't really care for unrelenting misery and manipulative stories though I am curious about the Dust Bowl era. Perhaps a reread of Grapes of Wrath would interest me too.
ReplyDeleteSusan - I was sucked into the Hannah novel but about 65% through my Grapes of Wrath reread... there is just no comparison between the two.
DeleteI loved Hamnet, so that's my recommendation. Thanks for the heads-up at Audible Plus. It's been a long time since I've looked at those selections and just added a bunch of classics. I'll get Esme Lennox, too.
ReplyDeleteLes - I still haven't visited my favorite indie bookstore this summer but, when I do, Hamnet will likely end up in my basket! As for the Audible Plus catalog, I never remember to check it but got lucky when I searched for Esme Lennox. Will try to check it at the beginning of each month now.
DeleteI'm saving Wide Sargasso Sea for the next time I reread Jane Eyre...but who knows when that will be!!
ReplyDeleteBrona - Good plan! It really is best to read Wide Sargasso Sea while Jane Eyre is still relatively fresh in your mind.
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