A Reunion Of Ghosts by Judith Claire Mitchell
This book needs to come with a trigger warning.
Summary:
In the waning days of 1999, the last of the Alters—three damaged but wisecracking sisters who share an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side—decide it’s time to close the circle of the family curse by taking their own lives. But first, Lady, Vee, and Delph must explain the origins of that curse and how it has manifested throughout the preceding generations. Unspooling threads of history, personal memory, and family lore, they weave a mesmerizing account that stretches back a century to their great-grandfather, a brilliant scientist whose professional triumph became the terrible legacy that defines them. A suicide note crafted by three bright, funny women; A Reunion of Ghosts is the final chapter of a saga lifetimes in the making—one that is inexorably intertwined with the story of the twentieth century itself.
Book Review (includes spoilers): 1/5 stars
I really wanted to like this book. When I read the synopsis I thought family drama, mystery, history, all topics are right up my alley. What I got was family trauma, suicide and a very fictional retelling of semi-real events. Overall a very depressing book that I would not ever recommend to anyone, ever.
The book starts with a family tree and a quick summary of the family lore and within the first 20 pages we get our first talks of suicide. I assumed this was a one off, something the author was using to explain the history of the three protagonists, but no it is a topic used throughout the book because the three main characters have a suicide pact, but before they act on their pact they want to write the family history.
The three main characters are three sisters: Lady, Vee and Delph. All three with tragic story lines, so says the author. We learn more about each of them as they write their story. Lady, the oldest, smart, but maybe not wise. Goes to college at I assume a time when not every woman was able to go but drops out and gets married to seemingly a loser. A common story, I'm sure, but what was missing for me was the details of why she dropped out. Did she feel she needed to, to start a family that never happened, was she forced to by her husband? All questions that went unanswered. She just seemed to live a sad life and wasn't doing anything to help herself. And, yes, I know it sounds like I am unsensitive to those with depression, but the way the author wrote this character doesn't give you room to be sensitive. She's very simplistically and one dimensionally written so without any detail in to why these circumstances occurred I'm left feeling frustrated. Vee is the middle child. She actually seems to have a well-rounded life, that was hit with major tragedy. She gets cancer, twice, and her husband, the actual love of her life is killed by a random act of violence. This character seems fully developed. Someone who did all the right things, but got the short end of the stick. As I read her sections I did feel for her and hopped for a better ending that unfortunately did not come.
Finally, Delph, who confused me on so many levels. The description of her seemed mousy and childlike, like someone that couldn't fend for themselves. Her tragedy was having her gay best friend, who was the love of her life that didn't love her back die of AIDS. And while completely awful, the way it was written made it seem like a side note to Delph's life made me think, well maybe that's not her tragic event. But that is what she committed to as the catalyst for wanting to kill herself.
The book bounces back between present day and the past where we learn about their family starting with the patriarch, their great-great grandfather. Being a historical fiction girl I enjoyed the throwback chapters, but I needed more from them. As the book goes on we learn more about the family and where they came from, but it never really amounts to anything. Spoiler alert… and it's of course really tragic, because this book is nothing but… the great grandfather was a scientist who created the chemical formula for the gas used in the gas chambers during WW2. And they are Jewish.
The revelation is of course was beyond shocking. So shocking that I wanted to learn more about this person, how accurate were the events. But I actually ended up not doing research while I was reading so as not to spoil anything for me because I was hoping the book would tie things together. Alas, this revelation was meant to be the final shock point so there was no connection between what happened before the war, during the war, after the war that got the family from Germany to the US. We as readers just go back and forth from past to present until we get to this catalyst and then are supposed to just assume they fled Germany before the Nazi's took over. A little bit more detail would have been helpful. And honestly, because it was so weirdly written, it wasn't the shock I thought it would be. It didn't make me have sympathies for the sisters. It didn't make me think, oh this is why their life is the way it is, because of what their great grandfather did. I was just thinking about all the unanswered questions. How much was known from generation to generation? Was it ever discussed? And how much does this really affect a person 3 generations removed? There was too much left to the readers interpretation and I couldn't fill in the gaps to explain why the sisters were the way they were. It didn't make sense to me.
Once we learn of the family's history and are supposed to understand why the girls need to die we meet the deceased mother's sister. The one who the mother had written off as dead. Again, not much detail is given which I'm sure was meant to be an allegory for life in general, but, sorry, when I'm reading a book I want all the details. Life has holes and gaps, fiction does not. We are introduced to this woman and her family who seemingly had a normal happy life, making the sisters question if the family curse exists. These few chapters were utter nonsense. They did nothing to move the plot forward or explain the family history or fill in the gaps. Plus, there was a quick moment of incest, Delph has sex with her newly found cousin, that is laughed off because their great grandparents were cousins. I have so many comments here, but I'll reserve them for brevity. But dear lord, what was the point of that. The only reason this family was brought in was because the incestuous cousin ends up reading the family history/ suicide note…. Because even after all of that, even after Delph has many thoughts and questions about the curse she still kills herself. Lady and Vee were lost causes the entire time but couldn't the author have had one happy ending?!
Now you may be wondering why I chose this book to begin with? Or even why I didn't stop reading it. Well, this was a library pick, and you know I love to find hidden gems at the library. Unfortunately this gem should have stayed hidden. And for why I didn't stop reading? I brought this book on my 2 week trip to Europe and had a bit of jet lag… it helped put me to sleep.
I am so curious if you have ever read this book and if you got more out of it than I did. Drop a comment and let me know your thoughts!
