Joy

I almost can't describe the degree to which I love The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox. I love books regularly -- in just the last three weeks I've devoured Finn and The Secret River and The Monsters of Templeton. I've loved moments in each of them. Characters. Narrative verve. But I haven't wholly and utterly fallen for a novel the way I have for Esme in a long time. Here's what I wrote on goodreads.com.

6/20/08 I've only dipped my toe into the still, warm waters of this novel, but I'm thrilled. By the simple, realistic, yet stunning concept, and by the incredibly fine-tuned prose. You can see everything.6/23/08Now I'm hurting because I've passed the halfway mark and cannot stand the thought of finishing. I've actually found myself slowing down, not reading another section, pulling away, so as not to miss a thing, or let it move to fast. I'm absolutely in love.6/24/08And the twist I can't bear, wasn't expecting, and somehow knew must happen has arrived. I jaw literally dropped agape. I could not love this novel more. And the fact that I have only 35 pages left makes me want to cry.