Scattered Ghosts: One Family's Survival Through War, Holocaust and Revolution

by Nick Barlay

from Amazon.co.uk:
When two Hungarian Jewish refugees landed by accident in Britain in the winter of 1956, they had little idea what the future would hold. But they carried with them the traces of their turbulent past, just enough to provide the clues to their past. Resurrecting 200 years of wars and revolutions, from the Austro-Hungarian Empire via two totalitarianisms to contemporary Britain, and through the remnants of family possessions and old memories, Nick Barlay retraces the footsteps of the vanished. There is the death march of a grandfather, the military manoeuvres of a great uncle, the final weeks and moments of a great grandmother deported to Auschwitz, two boys' survival of an untold massacre and codenamed spies operating in Cold War Britain. Scattered Ghosts is the poignant, powerful story of an all but disappeared world, told through the extraordinary experiences of a single family ruptured by great forces and occasionally brought together by cherry strudel.

Genres: History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Ken Sampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

[10 Feb 2017] This book is an absolutely fantastic social history written about how one family survived the events of the twentieth century, including revolution, war, genocide, migration and all the usual birth, marriages and deaths along the way. It is exceptionally well written with the use of a number of really creative, inventive and engaging techniques - the introduction using the concept of ancestors as ghosts grabs you and hooks you in for the ride. Then the use of word repetition, particular unusual words and beautiful description is simply sublime. The language is always engaging, at times the prose is almost poetic. Written in relatively short chapters and fast moving - he well judges where to focus and where to move-on. He uses his family story to give a unique take on historical issues - I found the family term of 'the place they ended up' to describe Auschwitz bone chilling. This book gives a rare look at the death of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the weird idea (for British readers) that national borders move and towns which were once in one country now find themselves in another is a puzzle. The unbelievable savagery of the Nazis and the inhuman story of genocide are described personally. Then the arrival of the communists and the suspicion and violence all well set out. Hearing the story of refugees from the refugee's outlook was very interesting. I loved this book and could not fault it. However if I could make two small comments I would have valued a map to help me put the towns and borders into context and also - for a Briton - the Hungarian words were a real challenge, for instance, where do you start with Hodmezovarsarhely? A simple phonetic pronunciation add would have been very useful.

[Veroni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me curious about my own beautiful Hungarian family.
Thanks for the new old stories and memories of my flawed extraordinary ancestors.
I understand through them myself a bit better.

"Ha egy napon hirtelen felnéz abból, amivel éppen foglalkozik, és megkérdi: "Ki vagyok?", mit kell mondania?"

[Yates Buckley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a Hungarian Jewish family and its dramatic experiences, funny moments, successes and tragedies. The family members are brought to life and woven through their stories as to create a sense of whole in the famiy despite the variety of characters and different timelines.

This is not fictional, but the art is in how life writing is woven together...

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent book

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very moving account of a family history, funny, sad, upsetting and thought-provoking.