MY THOUGHTS: What an amazing read (listen) this was! I love being blindsided by the unexpected, and Neil Alexander manages to do this with his debut novel! Definitely a writer to watch. Let me introduce you to Margaret Small, our narrator. She has spent most of her childhood and much of her adult life at St Mary’s – a home for children with learning difficulties and disabilities and now aged 75 she lives by herself in Whitstable with the support of Wayne, her care worker. 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.”

Many thanks first of all must go to Tracy Fenton who wrote such an intriguing and captivating review that I knew I just had to read The Vanishing of Margaret Small. Without her, I wouldn’t have discovered one of the most interesting and beautifully written characters I’ve read about in a very long time. Katz, Jonathan Ned (2014). The Invention of Heterosexuality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p.148. ISBN 978-0-226-42601-3. 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]The Vanishing of Margaret Small is a story that tore at my heart, had me shedding tears in places, but also had me laughing out loud in others.

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. I was surprised to find out "The Vanishing of Margaret Small" is this author's debut novel. The author's note at the end, gives brief detail of what brought this amazing story to life. I do hope this book finds its way in front of a large audience of readers and listeners for the well-written and meaningful story it is. I highly recommend it to all! Marga joined Birmingham in 2007 as Lecturer in Europe and the Wider World and achieved a much-deserved promotion to Senior Lecturer in 2021. In addition to her world-leading monograph Framing the World: Classical Influences on Sixteenth-Century Geographical Thought (The Boydell Press, 2020), Marga’s many publications included a prize-winning article in Renaissance Studies and another in Sixteenth-Century Studies – two of the most prestigious peer-reviewed journals in her field.To resolve the mystery, we are also given a glimpse of another timeline beginning from 1947, when little Margaret was first ‘vanished” into a long-stay institution for children with learning disabilities. Dystopian Fiction Books Everyone Should Read: Explore The Darker Side of Possible Worlds and Alternative Futures The second half of Thatcher’s tenure was marked by an inextinguishable controversy over Britain’s relationship with the European Community (EC). In 1984 she succeeded, amid fierce opposition, in drastically reducing Britain’s contribution to the EC budget. After her third electoral victory in 1987, she adopted a steadily more hostile attitude toward European integration. She resisted “federalist” continental trends toward both a single currency and a deeper political union. Her traditionally pro-European party became divided, and a string of senior ministers left the Cabinet over the issue. 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.

I wont tell you why and how long Margaret ended up in the children’s institution but the way this aspect is incorporated into the plot is marvellous. It isn’t a case of writing a character with a disability just to fit in with the current trend in fiction but forgetting to use it after some casual mentions. On the contrary, the author thoughtfully makes use of this aspect of Margaret’s personality in almost every chapter. There are some memorable secondary characters as well, both good and bad. Wayne was among my favourites.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. Earlier this month we learned of the death of our colleague and friend Dr Margaret (Marga) Small. Colleagues and students within and beyond the School of History and Cultures are devastated by the loss of a wonderful scholar, an inspirational teacher, and a most dedicated citizen of her Department, School, College and University. Imagine also my surprise when I discovered that this is a debut work. It is far more complex and nuanced than many of the established works I have read. During Marga’s appointment process, she impressed everybody during her presentation with her research topic, the history of exploration, but most of all with her language ability. Latin, ancient Greek, Spanish, Italian, French and bits of German amongst them. Whenever we met, she usually greeted me with a friendly ‘Wie gehts?’. These two words and the tone in which she asked expressed Marga’s whole personality: genuine, warm and interested. This is how I experienced her as a colleague, without any sense of attitude or entitlement, totally reliable and always willing to help and do her part in the School’s routine work and events. Laughlin, Kathleen A.; Castledine, Jacqueline (2011). Breaking the Wave: Women, Their Organizations, and Feminism, 1945-1985. Oxon: Routledge. p.235. ISBN 978-0-415-87397-0.