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The powerful story of a young woman chafing at the confines of marriage and the high cost of craving freedom and adventure We all have a bit of restlessness in us. In some people the urge to escape is more of a compulsion. But what happens when you have no destination? The Art of Vanishing is the story of two restless young women determined to lead unconventional lives. Barbara Follett yearned for a life of adventure, drawn by the pull of the wild. She married her partner in crime, but once they ran out of money and returned to the city, he wanted her to become a wife. To hang curtains. To do the dishes. To take care of the home. So in late December, with her marriage fraying, she walked out of their home on a quiet tree-lined street with a notebook and thirty dollars. She was never seen or heard from again. Laura Smith shared Barbara's wanderlust and at twenty-five--Barbara's age when she vanished--she too found herself wondering if it was possible to be at once married and free. Smith wanted her life to be different. She wanted her marriage to be different. And she felt that if she could only get to the bottom of Barbara's story and find out what she had chosen to do, she might have the answer. Her journey took her to some dark and unexpected places. The Art of Vanishing is a riveting mystery and a piercing exploration of marriage and convention that asks deep and uncomfortable questions: Why do we give up on our childhood dreams? Does marriage have to be a golden noose? Must we find ourselves in the same row houses with Pottery Barn lamps telling our kids to behave? Searingly honest and written with raw intensity, it will challenge you to rethink your most intimate decisions and may just upend your life.