A Reunion Of Ghosts audiobook

The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the 3rd and 4th generations Three sisters plan to see out the millennium together, really see it out. The agree to a mutual suicide pact (life has not been particularly kind), to be carried out as midnight approaches on December 31, 1999. (We doan need no steenking millennium). As a part of this deal they agree to write a family history in which the end is really...you know...the end. A Reunion of Ghosts is that, rather lengthy, suicide note. Sounds cheery, no? One might suspect that some families might carry forward propensities, whether by DNA, the class-based transmission of means and opportunities, or, maybe something even darker. So much nicer for folks to have a familial propensity for, say red hair, or artistic achievement, like the Wyeths, or Brontes, or Marsalises, maybe an athletic endowment. The Alou boys pop to mind. Sometimes, however, what is passed down is less rewarding. If there are detectable genetic markers for suicide, these folks would probably light up the test like a Christmas tree, although, of course, being Jewish, it might be a Channukah bush instead. There is even a chart on page 8 of my ARE listing members of the family with when, where and how they pruned themselves. It could make for the beginning of a darker version of Suicide Clue. Is it Great Grandfather Lenz in a hotel with morphine, maybe Great Grandmother Iris in the garden with a gun, or Grandfather Richard in the bedroom with an open window, maybe Mother in the Hudson with a Bridge? It goes on. I do not want to give the impression that the only way out is DIY. For good measure there are plenty of non-suicide deaths as well. But the question is raised, can the crimes of our forbears curse future generations? Are we to be held accountable for the dark doings of our parents, grand-parents, great-grand-parents? What if we are not, but think that we may be? Is history destiny? Judith Claire Mitchell There is certainly considerable family history here, however much individual tales might have been truncated. The story flips back and forth between the lives of the sisters (and within sundry periods of their lives) and the lives of their ancestors in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The oldest sister is Lady, approaching fifty. She wears nothing but black; Delph is the youngest, at 42. It is on her calf that the introductory quote is inked, a bible item uttered by their mother when JFK was shot. She is cursed with seeing peoples thoughts in bubbles as they pass. (Then never—not ever—have anything nice to say about anyone.); Vee is in the middle, and losing her latest battle with cancer. The three contend with scarring of one sort or another.They live on Riverside Drive in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, in an apartment their family has inhabited for ages.The three let us in on pieces of their lives, loves sought, found and lost, sometimes tossed. Hearts are broken. They are very engaging, relatable and often very funny. Their conversations sometimes effervesce. There are wits aplenty to go around and we are witness to the banter. Whereas the sisters’ dramas tend to the personal, however difficult, awful mates, lousy luck, the issues of their ancestors are painted on a more colorful European palette. They endure personal travails, for sure, but the issues are a touch larger. The Alter family originated in what is now Germany. Members of the clan were involved in various enterprises and professions. One owned a dye factory, another was responsible for technology that increased agricultural yields dramatically. One was a brilliant, educated woman struggling to find a place in an exclusively male world. There are plenty of colorful sorts in the family history, including a homosexual, malarial dwarf, who was also Germany’s trade ambassador to Japan. Wedded bliss was hardly the norm, and there are sundry carryings-on. One family shares space with Albert Einstein and his relatively miserable marriage. One bright light concocts and supervises the implementation of some very, very dark science. And of course, there is that familiar issue of Jewishness in Germany. While the sisters’ contemporary tales are relatable and moving, I found the historical segments much more interesting and fun, however distressing the content.Aside from destiny, there are concrete ways in which the travails of one generation are visited on the next. “All I said to her was the truth. It’s the same thing I said after the other two were born. The lesson from the camp. I tell it to Lady and Vee, too. When they’re asleep. ‘Never love anyone too much. You never know when they might be taken away.’ I whisper it in their ears. Every night, I whisper it.” There are plenty of literary bits in here, but Mitchell keeps them at a reasonable level. The females in the family are all named for flowers. Color is a presence across generations. There is a wonderful piece on horizontal light, another on acausal time. But it is not the flourishes that carry the day, it is the characters and their tales, very well told. Not really a spoiler. A bit of a rant here, which should not take up actual review space, but which requires an outlet, so, a su-aside (view spoiler)[ Really, fate, schmate. We are all given a hand. It may suck, or it may be a flush. Point is that it is up to us what to do with the hands we are dealt. It is definitely true that there are real-world limitations, whether because of how society or one’s DNA is organized. Maybe the damage we have suffered has become too much, or our resources for keeping on have become too depleted. Tossing away one’s life can be understandable when one is faced with having to endure extreme pain or loss of self en route to the end of the line with a terminal illness. Depression factors large in the world today, and, untreated, steals one’s resolve to carry on. And I am sure there are probably other understandable reasons to go all Kevorkian. But to give up in the absence of such extremes, the case for some of the characters here, seems an abdication of responsibility. For most of us there are at least some human connections that will be affected, so this usually solo act sends tendrils out to grip others. One’s sense of hope may have been plucked clean, but some feathers can grow back. There is a time to die for all of us, sooner, later, whenever. We take umbrage at the making of a pact by three, admittedly fictional, people to mutually cease to exist in the absence of a terminal condition times three. Maybe it is my former-Catholic DNA popping up and saying that suicide is a sin. I wouldn’t say that, but I would say that it is a waste. Society does a pretty good job of throwing people away. We do not really have to give it any extra help. Ok, rant over. (hide spoiler)]The worst thing, of course, the ultimate crime, is to even consider giving up a rent-controlled apartment on Riverside Drive. I mean, if the rent ain’t too damn high , you can walk to Zabar’s, see the Hudson, hang out in Riverside Park and discretely shoot spitballs at the joggers who trot by in thousand dollar sweats or bikers speeding by on their five-K rides, or stand around and watch the filming of one of the three thousand cop shows that use NYC for a set, exchange snide remarks about the blight of unsightly construction on the other side of the river, get in on some excellent sunsets, have reserved seating for fireworks, and not have to give up eating and replacing your threadbare threads just to manage the monthly. If that does not make life worth living I don’t know what might. Of course now I must fear that if I write a crap review my great-grandchildren will suffer because of it. And which of my bloody ancestors, I would like to know, is responsible for the state of my bank account? Talk about being cursed.This is a remarkable novel, able to take on very serious subject matter and maintain a very smart sense of humor at the same time. A Reunion of Ghosts is definitely well worth checking out. Review posted – 3/13/15Publication date – 3/24/15=============================EXTRA STUFFThis is Mitchell’s second novel. She teaches fiction writing to grads and undergrads at the University of Wisconsin in MadisonA theme song for Reunion - oh yes, I didLinks to the author’s personal and FB pagesBUZZ On January 8, Buzzfeed listed Reunion among 27 Of The Most Exciting New Books Of 2015 Barnes and Noble listed Reunion as one of its top picks for March 2015 The American Booksellers Association listed Reunion as one of its Indie Next Great Reads for April 2015["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

A Reunion of Ghosts (according to one character, that's the collective noun for ghosts) is the 'shared suicide note' of three middle-aged sisters, Lady, Vee, and Delph. They're the end of the family line (with apologies to Morrissey); the last remaining descendants of Lenz Alter, a Jewish scientist known as 'the father of chemical warfare' for his role in the invention of chlorine gas and Zyklon B. Believing the family to be cursed, doomed to suicide whatever they do, the Alter sisters embark on a project to set down their family's story before their inevitable, simultaneous, deaths. There are asides into the lives of various generations of Alters, as well as the sisters themselves. Every part of the story is emotionally engaging, and it's beautifully written, filled with warmth, humour and humanity. This is one of the best uses of a first person plural narrative (a device I usually hate) I've ever read, a rich and satisfying tapestry of lives that's tragic, heartbreaking actually, but also really, really funny. One of my favourite books of 2015 so far.

I won an ARC copy from GR giveaways!!This was a great family saga with twists and unexpected turns. Three sisters that believe they are cursed have come up with a great plan... go out by suicide, together. Writing a joined suicide note with the details of the "cursed family" and how they have come to be.I enjoyed this so much. Witty, snarky and very well written. Thanks Goodreads for the advance ARC!!

Reunion of Ghosts is a witty dark humor story of three sisters who firmly believe they are cursed by family history: the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the 3rd and 4th generations. In this case, their Great Grandfather Lenz Alter is the beginning of the sister’s curse. In her author’s notes, Mitchell states that she was inspired by the German-Jewish scientist Fritz Haber, his wife and son for the novel characters: Great Grandfather, wife, and son of the sisters. Haber was a Nobel Laureate and chemist who is credited for inventing chlorine gas (while trying to create fertilizer). Because of Great Grandfather Lenz (Fritz Haber), the girls feel their family has been cursed with suicides and bad luck. This story begins as a suicide memoir/note written in the plural first person (we) explaining their family history and reasons for their suicide.Mitchell is clever in telling her story in the plural form. Although the subject of family suicides sounds bleak, Mitchell is able to spin this narrative in an entertaining way. The sisters are funny and see humor in their dark existence. It’s a fun and quirky narrative written by a truly skilled author. Mitchell provides in her author’s notes what she used from historical accounts that she weaved into her story. I had no idea that the inventor of the gas used in the Nazi gas chambers was a Jewish chemist. Parts of his story and the story of his first wife are used in this novel. I’d recommend this for those love historical fiction….loosely based historical fiction, and for those who love wry humor. It’s well written and hugely funny.

The most intriguing thing about this book is the first-person plural narration. It’s an unusual form, more often found in corporate literature or academic papers. It indicates that for the scope of the document, the people involved are speaking with a single voice.That makes sense in a limited context, but in this book three sisters are apparently telling the story of their lives. Three very different women, speaking in a voice that isn’t quite any of them. So who is it?The Alter sisters, Lady, Vee and Delph, live together in the family apartment. However, these are no Misses Havisham. They are witty and snappy. They have lived through the major events of the second part of the twentieth century and they have plenty to say about them. The sisters believe themselves to be the fourth generation of a cursed family. Their great-grandfather Lenz Alter (loosely based on Fritz Haber), a German Jew, was a great scientist, but also created poisonous gas which was used in World War One. Since then there have been suicides in every generation of the family. They are ready to take their own part in the family myth by committing suicide on the eve of the new millennium. But first they must tell their story.This is an interesting take on the history of the twentieth century. The Alters are complex and contradictory. They are Jewish but secular, their ancestors are both victims and perpetrators of war. They have lived through world events and personal tragedy, all recounted coolly by that disembodied narrative voice. The story didn’t always hold my interest – particularly in the long first part – but the ideas did. I wasn’t sure at first about the ending but I found myself still thinking about it for days afterwards. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.

This book took my breath away. Lady, Vee, and Delph, three great-granddaughters of the inventor of both the gas used in WWI chemical warfare and, later, the extermination of the Jews in the gas chambers of WWII, are planning their suicide. This forty-something trio has selected a date and have set to compose a suicide letter, which is more of a family chronicle. Highly recommended.

3.5 StarsFull review to come!

A REUNION OF GHOSTS stars a trifecta of smart, quirky, self-involved New York City sisters—Lady, Vee and Delph—haunted by their forebears, well-to-do, well-educated Germans/borderline Christians whose lives ended if not in Nazi death camps, by suicide: morphine, gunshot, auto-defenestration, cyanide, suffocation, drowning, and window-leaping. “We are Alters…” a first-person voice explains, “quitters, if you like...” Which explains why the sisters have a suicide pact.The novel, Judith Claire Mitchell’s second, is driven by characters who are consistently interesting. There are many. They blur to the point that the book is narrated by a collective first-person that reflects all three sisters, a device tht underscores the message that we cannot escape the curse of our history and DNA. The result of the emphasis on character is that the novel’s plot becomes so rich with backstory that it’s MIA for pages and pages during much of the book. This is a challenge rewarded by Mitchell’s sharp, dark humor, which pulls you through. “In the tradition of Jews before the Cossacks arrive, she spent the rest of the day cleaning her apartment,” we learn. Or, “he said this if he came from a long line of seamen rather than a long-line of insurance agents.” The author’s eye for the droll detail is spot-on. Delph, for example, is described as “a Hell’s Angel troll doll.” For lovers of books about sisters—The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown and the recently published Vanessa and her Sisters by Priya Parmar come to mind; those devoted to Holocaust-related literature, and anyone who wants a complex family saga, put A Reunion of Ghosts on your list.The author directs the MFA program in creative writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On Wisconsin!

A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell is a masterfully written multigenerational story of the Alter sisters and a legacy that began during WWI. The 20th century is rapidly coming to a close and sisters Lady, Vee, and Delph are planning to end their lives, as the custom has been for decades. Their great-grandmother, wife of Lenz Alter, who is loosely based on the real life of Nobel-prize winning chemist Fritz Haber, a German Jew who invented chlorine gas, ended her life. Her son Richard and his children followed in his mother’s footsteps, and now as the 21st century is approaching it is time for the Alter sisters to end their respective lives, but how do three different people compose one suicide note? The Alter sisters are not without their issues, the eldest, Lady, is divorced and her life seemed to stop with the divorce, Vee is in remission, and Delph’s dreams appear to be outside her grasp. The three sisters, while different, are fiercely loyal and their wit, while dark, is brilliantly displayed throughout the book. A Reunion of Ghosts is masterfully written, the characters are endearing, realistic, and stay with the reader long after the book is over, the plot lines and the history behind the curse is slowly revealed in bits and pieces through history and different narrations. Mitchell’s writing is superbly brilliant making the book one this reader could not set down, A Reunion of Ghosts is in parts historical, lyrical, a eulogy of those who have gone before, part memoir, and above all an exceptional look at life, love, and the absolute desire for absolution. I would recommend A Reunion of Ghosts to all readers and especially to book discussion groups.

I'm not sure how much I actually liked this book, because it was pretty depressing, but the book was put together extremely well. It's a family saga with a lot of symmetry, and a fair amount of irony. I never really felt close to any of the characters, but they were reasonably well developed.

(4.5 stars rounded up) What is it about black comedies about suicide that appeal to me so much? First, it was The Virgin Suicides, which I’ve read numerous times, and now there’s A Reunion of Ghosts. This book will not appeal to everyone. The text represents a suicide note written by three 40-something sisters - Lady, Vee and Delph - who have decided to end their lives on New Year’s Eve 1999. The sisters feel that they are fated to pay for the sins of their forefathers, the most famous of which was a German Jew who accidently invented a process to produce the poison gas that was used in WWII’s concentration camps. The Alter family tree contains so many suicides over the years that the girls have charted them. Their planning for their big day is done calmly, with humor. These are three women that are hard not to love. I felt the book lagged a little in the middle third, but the last third made up for it. Interestingly, the author uses a “reunion” of ghosts to mean a group, like a gaggle of geese. I was unable to affirm this, but thought it sounded good.