Author Event: Maggie O'Farrell at the North Edinburgh Arts Centre
O'Farrell was lively and engaging, with some poignant stories.
| 10 Jul 2007
Maggie O'Farrell says her latest novel, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (out now through Headline Review), is concerned with the parallel experiences of women in different times; it is her goal to contrast the contemporary experience of women with that of the past. For this reason it was not surprising to find the audience for her talk at the North Edinburgh Arts Centre was composed solely of females, mainly middle-aged, with neat bob haircuts. The North Edinburgh Arts Centre aims to provide artistic and cultural experiences to a wide variety of people, but judging from the audience present for O'Farrell's talk, it only appealed to a small slice of Edinburgh residents. I admit this snap judgment might be unfair, but if true across the board it is a pity since the centre has plenty to offer – particularly for families - with an array of theatre, dance and author events planned for the coming months.
It seems unfortunate too, that O'Farrell's talk did not attract a larger or wider audience, because she was lively and engaging, with some poignant stories. She began the evening with readings from her latest novel, filled with tactile descriptions, and the acute perceptions of her agile characters. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox concerns the institutionalisation of a woman in Edinburgh in the 1930s; the events which led to this, and what happens when, decades later, she is released and her existence is discovered by relatives.
O'Farrell talked animatedly of the fascination and horror she experienced in her research for the novel, uncovering countless tragic stories of women institutionalised for the most basic of 'transgressions'. She told of women put away for things such as planning to elope with a legal clerk, for the refusal of an offer of marriage, for kissing a soldier, and of course, the example that was the inspiration for the character of Esme, institutionalised for trying on her mother's clothes. The madness of these girls became a self-fulfilling prophecy following their abject treatment in the wards, with many kept incarcerated until the early 1990s when the institutions were closed. After having their lives stolen by husbands or fathers who could have them confined without question, these women emerged in the 1990s to families who had no idea they existed. All this provided seeds for O'Farrell's fertile imagination, and out of it emerged the novel, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.
In her novel, O'Farrell says, she tried to show what happens to this mould of women – tempestuous, rebellious and lively – in different time periods, and for this she contrasts Iris, the grand-niece of Esme. More telling though, was a story O'Farrell told the audience of her weekly visits to a group of women who had been institutionalised their whole lives. O'Farrell had returned to them following an absence of several months, during which she had given birth. When the women asked where she had been and she responded she had had a baby, one of the women heart-breakingly responded, "Oh, did they let you keep it?"
Every generation has its secrets and shames, and I was left wondering what it will be for ours. What is it we are now doing that, looking back, we will come to see as barbarous and inhumane? [Laurel Wilson]
It seems unfortunate too, that O'Farrell's talk did not attract a larger or wider audience, because she was lively and engaging, with some poignant stories. She began the evening with readings from her latest novel, filled with tactile descriptions, and the acute perceptions of her agile characters. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox concerns the institutionalisation of a woman in Edinburgh in the 1930s; the events which led to this, and what happens when, decades later, she is released and her existence is discovered by relatives.
O'Farrell talked animatedly of the fascination and horror she experienced in her research for the novel, uncovering countless tragic stories of women institutionalised for the most basic of 'transgressions'. She told of women put away for things such as planning to elope with a legal clerk, for the refusal of an offer of marriage, for kissing a soldier, and of course, the example that was the inspiration for the character of Esme, institutionalised for trying on her mother's clothes. The madness of these girls became a self-fulfilling prophecy following their abject treatment in the wards, with many kept incarcerated until the early 1990s when the institutions were closed. After having their lives stolen by husbands or fathers who could have them confined without question, these women emerged in the 1990s to families who had no idea they existed. All this provided seeds for O'Farrell's fertile imagination, and out of it emerged the novel, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox.
In her novel, O'Farrell says, she tried to show what happens to this mould of women – tempestuous, rebellious and lively – in different time periods, and for this she contrasts Iris, the grand-niece of Esme. More telling though, was a story O'Farrell told the audience of her weekly visits to a group of women who had been institutionalised their whole lives. O'Farrell had returned to them following an absence of several months, during which she had given birth. When the women asked where she had been and she responded she had had a baby, one of the women heart-breakingly responded, "Oh, did they let you keep it?"
Every generation has its secrets and shames, and I was left wondering what it will be for ours. What is it we are now doing that, looking back, we will come to see as barbarous and inhumane? [Laurel Wilson]
For a full calendar of upcoming events at the North Edinburgh Arts Centre, go to [see URL]
http://www.northedinburgharts.co.uk