Maggie O’Farrell is becoming one of those writers whose books I will read without knowing the plot details, as I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read so much. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox was no exception. This book, a historical fiction with gothic overtones, made me angry, and sad—and I blazed through it in about a day. Esme’s story is one that is all too common: a girl who chafes against the social constraints of her time, and suffers a terrible fate for doing so. Reading it and knowing that, while fictional, this book is grounded in fact, made it all the more compelling and infuriating.