Why I love Maggie O'Farrell's books

I have just finished reading The Hand That First Held Mine and like all the Maggie O'Farrell books that I have read, I loved it. I have only read 4, but they are all excellent and I would recommend them to anyone. If my to-read list was not so large and out of control, I would probably have read more of her books by now! 

O'Farrell writes about a wide range of topics, but the thing that sets her work apart is the incredibly real portrayal of human emotions. After reading one of her books I feel raw and emotionally drained, but I mean that in a good way! Her characters are fantastically well drawn - that is why you feel their emotions so keenly. And there is usually an element of mystery and a fast-paced plot. What's not to like? 

So the ones I have read are:

The Hand that First Held Mine - a story following the lives of two women, living in the same city 50 years apart. In the 1950s, Lexie runs away to London looking for excitement, meets the love of her life and carves out a new life for herself as a journalist. In present day London, Elina has just become a mother and we share the first few life-changing weeks of motherhood with her. These parallel stories have fleeting moments of connection, mainly through the places in London that the characters frequent but as the novel goes on we realise that the two women are connected in other ways too. This novel won the Costa Novel Award in 2010 and is a riveting read.

After You'd Gone  is one of those books that totally consumes you. You will live in this book while you are reading it. It is an outstanding and heart-wrenching portrayal of love and grief and without doubt my favourite of O'Farrell's books. It is hard to believe that this was her first novel.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Iris receives a letter informing her that a great-aunt she knew nothing about is about to be released from a psychiatric institution. Iris sets out to discover the truth about this mysterious old lady who seems to have been erased from the family history. The novel is cleverly constructed with the truth gradually being revealed through 3 different viewpoints. Another very moving page turner from O'Farrell.

Instructions for a Heatwave has a mystery at its heart. One morning Robert Riordan tells his wife Gretta that he is going out to buy a newspaper and he never returns. The search for Robert brings his children back home and gradually many skeletons are released from closets as the family pulls together to find him. I loved it because the family is so wonderfully real and believable. Each character is flawed but likeable and the Irishisms are spot-on. It is also utterly compelling - just like his family the reader is desperate to both find Robert and discover why he disappeared. Excellent.

Which Maggie O'Farrell books have you read? And which ones are your favourites?