Wordless Wednesday: Zurich

 

Zurich at dusk.

More Wordless Wednesday here.

Photo by moi.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
by Maggie O'Farrell
★★★★☆

Iris is a woman living a normal, but complicated life. She’s having an affair with a married man and has a close relationship with her step-brother Alex. Everything in her world is thrown completely off balance when she finds out her great-aunt Esme, who she didn’t know existed, has been in a mental institution for 60 years.

The narrative flips the POV between Iris in present day, Esme as a young woman and an elderly woman and Esme’s sister Kitty. This works beautifully, giving us small pieces of the puzzle as we go. Because of this style I don’t know if I would have liked this one if I hadn’t read it in one sitting. Reading it that way was perfect because as it flipped back and forth in time I could just stay in the midst of everything and keep it all straight.

The book is really about women and the way “mental illness” was treated in the past. I’ve always been interested in that and so Vanishing appealed to me. Iris’ plot wasn’t as important to me, but I thought Esme was fascinating. It’s terrifying to think about how misunderstood women sometimes were. A strong will was often treated like a disease and the women were often powerless to defend themselves. There are many other books that touch on this issue; both Fingersmith and The Woman in White come to mind.

SPOILERS

I’ve heard a few people say they aren’t sure about the details of the ending. Did Esme kill Kitty? Was Esme really Iris’ grandmother? To those questions I would say yes and yes, at least that’s how I took it. Does anyone who has read it have a different opinion?

SPOILERS OVER

“We are all just vessels through which identities pass: we are features, gestures, habits, then we hand them on. Nothing is our own. We begin in the world as anagrams of our ancestors.”

BOTTOM LINE: An incredible look at the disturbing ease in which women were shuffled off to an insane asylum only a few decades ago. If at all possible, read this whole book at one time. It’s a quick read, but I can see how the POV would be confusing if you were picking it up and putting it down.

For another review Giraffe Days

Lysistrata and Banned Book Week

Banned Book Week is a big deal to me and each year I try to read at least one banned book to celebrate our freedom to choose what we read. This year it is from Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2012 and I hope you'll all get out there and find at least one banned book to read or to give to someone else.

Lysistrata

by Aristophanes
★★★★
 
This comedy, originally written in 411 BC, was banned in 1967 in Greece because of its anti-war message. This modern translation by Douglass Parker breathes new life into the story and makes it accessible for all audiences.
 
The women in Greece decide that they are tired of their men always being away fighting the Peloponnesian War. One woman, Lysistrata, comes up with a brilliant idea and recruits the rest of the women to take part in her plan. They decide as a group to withhold sex from the men until they make peace. They lock themselves in the Acropolis and resist all temptation to give in to their husband’s demands. I loved the fact that the women don’t deny their own sexual desires and they have to fight both their urges and their husbands’ desires to make the plan work.
 
One of the funniest scenes includes a woman desperate to go back home to her husband. She announces she much leave and find a midwife because she’s about to deliver her baby… even though she wasn’t pregnant the day before. The women quickly call her on it and make her remove the metal helmet from under her dress where it was being smuggled to make her look pregnant.
 
BOTTOM LINE: The humor definitely plays better on the stage than the page, but I’ve found that to be true with all comedic plays. The premise is clever and fun and though it may be a bit silly, the message of encouraging peace is a good one.

Image from here.