The Vanishers

Julia Severn is an initiate at a psychic institute in New Hampshire who comes under the tutelage of a medium named Madame Ackermann. But Julia—who is searching for answers about her deceased mother—is forced to leave the institute following a dispute with Ackermann in which Julia suffered a crippling psychic attack. Eventually, Julia finds her way to a facility in Vienna that deals with psychic wounds. Along the way, she further develops her psychic powers while meeting individuals connected to either Ackermann or her deceased mother. Xe Sands turns in a stellar performance in this audio edition of Julavits’s latest, providing narration that is secretive and seductive. For the novel’s many female characters, Sands offers up a host of spot-on voices and accents. The result is intriguing, whimsical, often funny, and thoroughly enjoyable. A Doubleday hardcover. (Mar.)