Thursday, March 26, 2015

TLC Book Tours Book Review: A Reunion Of Ghosts

A Reunions of GhostsAbout A Reunion of Ghosts


• Print Length: 400 pages
• Publisher: Harper (March 24, 2015)
• Book Blurb:
Three wickedly funny sisters. One family's extraordinary legacy. A single suicide note that spans a century ... Meet the Alter sisters: Lady, Vee, and Delph. These three mordantly witty, complex women share their family's apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. They love each other fiercely, but being an Alter isn't easy. Bad luck is in their genes, passed down through the generations. Yet no matter what curves life throws at these siblings—and it's hurled plenty—they always have a wisecrack, and one another. In the waning days of 1999, the trio decides it's time to close the circle of the Alter curse. But first, as the world counts down to the dawn of a new millennium, Lady, Vee, and Delph must write the final chapter of a saga lifetimes in the making—one that is inexorably intertwined with that of the twentieth century itself. Unspooling threads of history, personal memory, and family lore, they weave a mesmerizing account of their lives that stretches back decades to their great-grandfather, a brilliant scientist whose professional triumph became the sinister legacy that defines them. Funny, heartbreaking, and utterly original, A Reunion of Ghosts is a magnificent novel about three unforgettable women bound to each other, and to their remarkable family, through the blessings and the burdens bestowed by blood.

  Praise

 “What if the man who invented chemical weapons was also a grandfather, and what if his great-grandchildren grew up to be three hilarious, introverted, deeply-haunted sisters? And what if those sisters co-wrote a fascinating, funny, and deeply sad 350-page suicide note? Then you’d have A Reunion of Ghosts. This is a triumphant, beautiful, and devastating novel about coincidences, family, and the sins of our fathers.” — Anthony Doerr, New York Times bestselling author of All The Light We Cannot See
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Review:  A Reunion of Ghosts is one of the most unique books I've read recently.  It wasn't an easy read, in fact, for awhile, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish it. It took me quite a bit of time to warm to Lady, Vee and Delphie.

Three sisters, who come from an unusual family. Their great grandfather is is the father of chemical warfare. Not exactly something you want to brag about. His works seem to fuel a curse in the family. A curse that sees many of the family members committing suicide. The sister's plan to kill themselves on the last day of the year in 1999.

The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the 3rd and 4th generations. 

This is something that their mother Dahalia has said in regards to their family and it is so important that Delphine had it tattooed to her leg.

I found the first few chapters to be a bit confusing, but when the focus went to Lenz and Iris and the Einstein family, I was hooked. I read a great biography on Albert Einstein several years ago, and I like seeing how others see the genius.

The story alternates between events in the sister's lives and the past. I had a hard time dealing with the reasons the sister's wanted to commit suicide together. Ok, I could understand why Vee would want to. She has the worst luck of the three sisters, at least where her health is concerned.

It's Lady whose suicide attempts confused me the most. I didn't feel like there was a good reason for her wanting to take her life. (She has tried multiple times throughout the course the novel)

Just when they think they are going to do the deed, something happens. One of the family members that they thought was dead appears at their apartment and for a brief time, they see that maybe they aren't cursed.

The ending is bittersweet, and after meeting their aunt Violet and her son, I expected something different, but I still enjoyed the book even though things didn't end on a happy note.


Judith Claire MitchellAbout Judith Claire Mitchell

Judith Claire Mitchell, author of the novel The Last Day of the War, is an English professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she directs the MFA program in creative writing. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Judy has received fellowships from the James A. Michener/Copernicus Society, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and elsewhere. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, the artist Don Friedlich. Find out more about Judith at her website, and connect with her on Facebook.

1 comments:

Heather J @ TLC Book Tours said...

This sounds like an intriguing book! I'm glad you stuck with it and ended up enjoying it, even though the ending was bittersweet. Thanks for being a part of the tour!

 
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