The Vanishing of Margaret Small: An uplifting and page-turning mystery

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Alexander throws the reader a little surprise before a most satisfactory resolution to Margaret’s story. He gives his characters wise words and insightful observations. “Don’t judge yourself the way others judged you in the past.” Funny, moving and uplifting, this is an outstanding debut novel. Vanish is exactly what happens to seven-year-old Margaret in 1947 when her maternal grandmother and Mr. Gray decide she should be 'dropped off' at St. Mary's Hospital, a long-stay institution for children with learning and physical disabilities. My favorite quote in the book is: “Don’t judge yourself the way others judged you in the past.” It can apply to many of us in many situations. This comes from Wayne, who is Margaret's support worker. He lives up to his role.

In a Nutshell: An unusual story. The title and cover makes this debut novel appear light and easy-going, but it gets quite intense at times. Definitely worth reading for its quirky protagonist and its character-oriented storyline. Most of all, though, Marga had the best possible approach and attitude to her work. To her core Marga loved her job, her department and her discipline. She had the most enormous energy, passion and dedication to all aspects of being a historian, researcher and lecturer, coupled with a generosity of spirit, mountains of goodwill and a genuine desire to serve the academic community. It is hard to express the loss we feel but we are committed to keeping Marga’s memory and values alive in all that we continue to do. She will never be far from our thoughts. We loved her and will never forget her. Thatcher led the Conservatives to a decisive electoral victory in 1979 following a series of major strikes during the previous winter (the so-called “Winter of Discontent”) under the Labour Party government of James Callaghan. As a prime minister representing the newly energetic right wing of the Conservative Party (the “Dries,” as they later called themselves, as opposed to the old-style moderate Tories, or “Wets”), Thatcher advocated greater independence of the individual from the state; an end to allegedly excessive government interference in the economy, including privatization of state-owned enterprises and the sale of public housing to tenants; reductions in expenditures on social services such as health care, education, and housing; limitations on the printing of money in accord with the economic doctrine of monetarism; and legal restrictions on trade unions. The term Thatcherism came to refer not just to these policies but also to certain aspects of her ethical outlook and personal style, including moral absolutism, fierce nationalism, a zealous regard for the interests of the individual, and a combative, uncompromising approach to achieving political goals.THE AUTHOR: Much of the inspiration for Neil Alexander's debut novel, 'The Vanishing of Margaret Small', came directly from the voices of people with a learning disability, and the incredibly moving first person accounts of living in long stay institutions, which he heard while working for the UK charity Mencap. Neil, who has a Masters degree in English Literature from the University of Kent at Canterbury, began his career working in health journalism. Originally from Northern Ireland, he now lives in the seaside town of Whitstable in Kent. He currently teaches English part-time and is working on his second novel. What a unique story this is! Debut novel from this author. As the title says, it is the story of Margaret. “Vanishing” is Margaret’s word for the fact that she vanished from her grandmother’s home at a young age and was sent to an institution (hospital?) for problem and slow children. All in all, this is a book that is heartrending and heartwarming at the same time. If you want to read the touching story of a loveable old lady, definitely give this a go. I found myself reading widely about it as I flew through the book, and I am thrilled to welcome Neil to the Embla list,” she said. “The combination of his experience at Mencap and his prodigious talent and warmth as a writer and storyteller are truly exciting. We believe his début has the potential to be for learning disability awareness what Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey (Penguin) was for dementia.” Over the next few years, I saw quite a lot of Marga: we met fortnightly at the CREMS seminar, and occasionally – too occasionally – met for lunch or coffee. But the time when I really got to know Marga best was when she and I both took part in the famous CREMS trip to China in 2009. I vividly remember long and often impassioned conversations, on topics of all kinds, almost all of which she had strong views on. I never knew in advance what Marga was going to think about anything, but I always enjoyed finding out.

Alexander weaves a most sensitive story, which made me laugh and smile, and on one occasion even cry, but not once does he descend into the saccharine or ever patronise his marvellous leading lady, Margaret. His depiction of Care Support Worker Wayne has such heart, and it is Wayne and Margaret’s exchanges that are my favourite conversations in the book. I adored Wayne, especially the way he drew a line in the sand in dealing with some of Margaret’s dodgy views. So, yes, like all good characters Margaret may be flawed, but mostly she is kind and funny — and the most wonderful company. I was seven years old when they vanished me. The Rat Catcher done it. He stole me from Grandma. In the beginning, you see, I lived with Grandma, for Mother had died soon after I was born.

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She cared so much about the students and the staff and would always stop for a chat, no matter how busy she was. I will miss her a lot. This poignant story tells of people whom life has denied any of the advantages that we take for granted today. People with few or no choices about their own lives. It speaks to the unfairness of life, while simultaneously being hopeful thanks in no small part to Margaret's naivety and positive outlook.

I will miss Marga enormously, for so many reasons: her humanity; her constancy; her cheer; her memorable facebook updates; and her unfailing ability to get into improbable tussles with the Arts Building lifts and almost every unfortunate piece of technology she ever laid hands on. She was my only fellow-bearer of a Celtic accent in the department; she was almost my twin in terms of birthdate. The loss is deeply painful, personally and professionally. Worse still, I keep wanting to turn to Marga, because it’s in this very sort of situation that she’d be such a tremendous strength. The agony of her own family, especially Joel, Clara and Douglas, is worst of all though. Marga and Joel were one of the best-matched couples I know; they adored each other, and together had created one of the most loving, happy families I’ve ever seen. Their loss is beyond all description. My only hope is that in time, that pain of loss is somewhat tempered by happy memories of an amazing wife and mother whose legacy is one of pure goodness and love. Margaret Small is intellectually challenged, but she more than makes up for this with spades of common sense, far more than many so called intelligent people. She is kind and willing but easily taken advantage of. What she does she does well and she takes pride in her work. During the 1970s, Small became part of The Furies, a radical lesbian collective founded by Charlotte Bunch. [3] She was also a contributor to the lesbian-feminist anthology, Lesbianism and the Women's Movement. [4] In 1972, Small and Madeline Davis taught Lesbianism 101 at the University at Buffalo's Women Studies College. [5] It was the first class in an American university that taught lesbian issues. [5] Small, who was a graduate student during the course's development, was credited as the catalyst for building the lesbian program. [6] Three years later, she published “Lesbians and the Class Position of Women”, an essay that offered a Marxist interpretation of "lesbian consciousness". In this text, she identified the concept as part of the struggle to free women from oppression. [3]While reading, I wondered if Margaret was really as 'slow' as they made her out to be. If her grandmother had shown her any real love and guidance perhaps she would have learned to read and write. Though, the sad truth was that the grandmother's getting rid of Margaret as an unwelcome reminder of her daughter's transgressions seemed inevitable in a way. The sadistic treatment of the patients at the long term care institution was distressing to read. Margaret lived there from the age of seven until she was forty-one years old! All the while being told she was incapable of learning - and she had no schooling. At times a heart-wrenching read, "The Vanishing of Margaret Small" was an astounding debut novel. Based upon interviews with 'people with learning disabilities', the author has created a fictionalized tribute to those people, while also reminding us of the dire treatment of these individuals just a few short decades ago. a b Pohl, Nicole (2001). "Review of Circles otf Power: Shifting Dynamics in a Lesbian-centered Community". Utopian Studies. 12 (2): 301–303. ISSN 1045-991X. Yet she also made it her duty to ensure that we were also able to bond together outside of work. Many of the cohort had come from different institutions and Margaret recognised how difficult it may be for a lot of students given that in-person experiences remained limited. So, Margaret tookit upon herself to organise games evening so that we could get to know each other better.