The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is a story that revolves around themes of family secrets, social injustice, jealousy, trauma, and victimhood. Moreover, the history of Victorian mental asylums and the ‘myths’ of hysteria in women during the early 20th century. The narrative focuses on the effect the dynamic within the family has on an individual and their response thereof. Hence the story which charts two generations in a family showcases the burden of family secrets and trauma.
The plot focuses on the life of the eponymous protagonist through her perspective and two other women in her family, Kitty, and Iris. It tells about Esme Lennox’s childhood and how she ended up in a mental asylum for over sixty years. On her release, her niece Iris is tasked with taking care of her as she is termed ‘fit’ to dwell in society. Her childhood flashbacks reveal that she was a precocious and erratic child which prompted her parents to label her as mentally unfit. However more secrets about the family disclose that Esme was a traumatized child and nobody in the family defended her. This demonstrates the manner in which emotional response particularly for women was misconstrued as a mental illness. As the narrative unfolds through their eyes the past and present intertwine to divulge the significance of truth in the family. Esme was a misunderstood child whose trauma contributed to her behavior but injustice by society and jealousy in the family erased her completely.
This fictional narrative references the programs that aimed to release patients confined in Victorian-based asylums for proper medical care. Progress in modern medicine and a better understanding of the human psyche led to placing patients on medically-proven spectrums. As it juxtaposes Esme and the modern woman through Iris it demonstrates the un-stigmatization of mental issues. Thus, a better understanding of trauma which was barely understood a century ago, in this case, Esme was suffering from bipolar disorder and not psychosis.
