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A Reunion of Ghosts
A Reunion of Ghosts is the shared confessional of three sisters who have decided to kill themselves at the end of the 20th century, honoring the dark legacy that has haunted their extraordinary family for decades
How do three sisters write a single suicide note?
In the waning days of 1999, the Alter sisters—Lady, Vee, and Delph—finalize their plans to end their lives. Their reasons are not theirs alone; they are the last in a long line of Alters who have killed themselves, beginning with their great-grandmother, the wife of a Jewish Nobel Prize-winning chemist who developed the first poison gas used in World War I and the lethal agent used in Third Reich gas chambers. The chemist himself, their son Richard, and Richard’s children all followed suit.
The childless sisters also define themselves by their own bad luck. Lady, the oldest, never really resumed living after her divorce. Vee is facing cancer’s return. And Delph, the youngest, is resigned to a spinster’s life of stifled dreams. But despite their pain they love each other fiercely, and share a darkly brilliant sense of humor.
As they gather in the ancestral Upper West Side apartment to close the circle of the Alter curse, an epic story about four generations of one family—inspired in part by the troubled life of German-Jewish Fritz Haber, Nobel Prize winner and inventor of chlorine gas—unfolds. A Reunion of Ghosts is a tale of fate and blood, sin and absolution; partly a memoir of sisters unified by a singular burden, partly an unflinching eulogy of those who have gone before, and above all a profound commentary on the events of the 20th century.
How do three sisters write a single suicide note?
In the waning days of 1999, the Alter sisters—Lady, Vee, and Delph—finalize their plans to end their lives. Their reasons are not theirs alone; they are the last in a long line of Alters who have killed themselves, beginning with their great-grandmother, the wife of a Jewish Nobel Prize-winning chemist who developed the first poison gas used in World War I and the lethal agent used in Third Reich gas chambers. The chemist himself, their son Richard, and Richard’s children all followed suit.
The childless sisters also define themselves by their own bad luck. Lady, the oldest, never really resumed living after her divorce. Vee is facing cancer’s return. And Delph, the youngest, is resigned to a spinster’s life of stifled dreams. But despite their pain they love each other fiercely, and share a darkly brilliant sense of humor.
As they gather in the ancestral Upper West Side apartment to close the circle of the Alter curse, an epic story about four generations of one family—inspired in part by the troubled life of German-Jewish Fritz Haber, Nobel Prize winner and inventor of chlorine gas—unfolds. A Reunion of Ghosts is a tale of fate and blood, sin and absolution; partly a memoir of sisters unified by a singular burden, partly an unflinching eulogy of those who have gone before, and above all a profound commentary on the events of the 20th century.
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First published March 1, 2015
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About the author
Judith Claire Mitchell
5 books65 followersJudith Claire Mitchell is the author of the novels The Last Day of the War and A Reunion of Ghosts, the latter forthcoming from Harper in March 2015. A graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, she teaches undergrad and graduate fiction workshops atJudith Claire Mitchell 1 the University of Wisconsin, where she is a professor of English and the director of the MFA program in creative writing. She has received grants and fellowships from the Michener-Copernicus Society of America, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and Bread Loaf, among others.
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March 16, 2023
The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the 3rd and 4th generationsThree 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?
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.
Judith Claire Mitchell
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
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 first posted – 3/13/15
Publication date – 3/24/15
=============================EXTRA STUFF
This is Mitchell’s second novel. She teaches fiction writing to grads and undergrads at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
A theme song for Reunion - oh yes, I did
Links to the author’s personal and FB pages
BUZZ
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
August 28, 2025
The sense of humor was fantastic but the story dragged so much in certain places it got hard to stick with it.
November 8, 2015
“Someday this will be funny.”
So says Lady, the eldest of the Alter sisters, from her hospital gurney, following her first failed attempt at killing herself. This is an year after their mother jumps into the Hudson, becoming the sixth in three generations to succumb to despair (or what the sisters call the "curse").
But is it really funny - you might wonder when you read that blurb - this history of tragedy and violence, this overwhelming burden of guilt passed down through the years? There is the great-grandfather who pioneered the use of poisonous gases in warfare and contributed to the death of millions; the great-grandmother, who lived a life of subservience and moral dilemma in her (famous? notorious?) husband's shadow; the grandmother who painstakingly kept a journal of names, of everyone she knew and lost to Zyklon, indirectly borne as a result of the great-grandfather's research.
It is understandable then, why the sisters believe they are doomed. Some families might indeed be cursed, the sins of the past catching up to stifle the present.
And, despite all the darkness and the persistent morbid theme of the content (The book is, essentially, a family's long suicide note), A Reunion of Ghosts manages to be hilarious.
Not the offensive humor - and I was skeptical about this when I started - that undermines the gravity of the topic and makes jokes on things that are not to be joked about. Oh no. This book is funny in the effortless way that the company of someone interesting and witty might delight you, make you shake your head and smile at the things they observe and describe.
And that is because the sisters - Lady, Vee and Delph - are interesting and witty. They love word puns, they love collecting coincidences, they see the tiny ironies in massive things. So the narrative, which is in their combined voice, consists of lines such as this:
"So when Delph repeatedly describes the name change as no big deal, just a slight Alter-ation, you can't punish her for being punnish."
Dark humor is new to me but it's something that I'm increasingly starting to respect because it's so hard to get right. A Reunion of Ghosts is alternately light and dark, cold and warm. Childish at times, even silly. Contemplative otherwise. It is thematically engaging and structurally interesting, in that it employs a first-person plural narrative that is common to the sisters, yet distinguishes the idiosyncrasies of each from the other. The stories of the Alter family are sad and somber, yet somehow interspersed with bittersweet delight. Some of these stories are fiction, some are loosely based on fact. There is love, there is heartbreak; disappointments and tiny triumphs.
There is death, yes. But also life.
"Life isn't a soap opera," Vee would say. "It's far more nonsensical."
March 11, 2015
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.
September 26, 2015
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!!
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!!
June 3, 2015
This bit of schlump received an excellent review in a popular women's magazine that a friend gave me. That will teach me. The writing was disconnected, the characters trite and never inspired me to care about them. I cannot recommend this even as a beach read.
March 10, 2015
Lady, Vee and Delph Alter are three sisters, living together in their childhood apartment; one divorced, one widowed, one a spinster. The sisters have embarked on a family history project and have decided they will be the last of the Alter line. With one of the sisters having a terminal illness, the three decide to commit suicide on New Year’s Eve. Although we know this at the very beginning of the book, this is not at all a depressing read. Instead, it is the darkly humorous tale, not only of the lives of the three sisters, but also of their ancestors.
With the lives of the current Alter family and their predecessors intertwining, we read of the family history which, in the words of their mother, ‘doomed them all.’ Their Great Grandfather, Lorenz Otto Alter, was both a war hero and a prize-winning chemist. However, his scientific discoveries led to him being considered either a scientific genius or the Father of Chemical Welfare, as his work resulted in substances as diverse as the use of Zyklon B in the Nazi death camps to Ecstasy in modern day nightclubs (“We know. You’re welcome” is a deadpan aside to this discovery).
History hangs heavily on the Alter sisters and, although they are funny, intelligent and warm, it is obvious that they are all too aware of being judged. Many of their relatives have committed suicide – grandfather, aunts, uncle, mother… Yet, this novel, which is both their testament and suicide note, is never maudlin or self-pitying. If you enjoy intelligent fiction, then you will find meeting these three sisters an enriching experience. This would be ideal for a reading group, with much to discuss and it is certainly a novel I will return to.
With the lives of the current Alter family and their predecessors intertwining, we read of the family history which, in the words of their mother, ‘doomed them all.’ Their Great Grandfather, Lorenz Otto Alter, was both a war hero and a prize-winning chemist. However, his scientific discoveries led to him being considered either a scientific genius or the Father of Chemical Welfare, as his work resulted in substances as diverse as the use of Zyklon B in the Nazi death camps to Ecstasy in modern day nightclubs (“We know. You’re welcome” is a deadpan aside to this discovery).
History hangs heavily on the Alter sisters and, although they are funny, intelligent and warm, it is obvious that they are all too aware of being judged. Many of their relatives have committed suicide – grandfather, aunts, uncle, mother… Yet, this novel, which is both their testament and suicide note, is never maudlin or self-pitying. If you enjoy intelligent fiction, then you will find meeting these three sisters an enriching experience. This would be ideal for a reading group, with much to discuss and it is certainly a novel I will return to.
April 26, 2015
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.
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.
August 13, 2016
I'm not a fan of dark comedy, however, this book possesses merits worthy of praise.
Mitchell expertly blends historical fiction with dark comedy. The two combinations seem odd but I assure you Mitchell crafts quite a narrative with memorable characters.
The historical reference and notable figure centers around Fritz Haber, the inventor of chlorine gas, as well as his first wife, Clara Haber. Using the Haber's gives merit and a level of high interest to the entire story along with the three sisters and their 'family curse.' The novel forces the reader to ponder coincidence or fate, science or universe. Personally I enjoy a narrative leaving me lost in thought, mulling heavy topics and subject matter, I am certainly given much to consider with this provoking narrative.
I completely enjoyed the three sisters. As you become familiar with their personalities and individual stories, their unbreakable bond, and deep love for one another, you wish they weren't fictional characters, having tea with this trio would be entertaining at the very least.
The narrative reads rather ombré alternating from lighter moments thru darker moments, darker moments to lighter moments. Despite the doom and gloom plenty of mirth makes an appearance expectedly and unexpectedly.
Fascinating, mysterious, perfect for a group discussion, an imaginative literary family saga.
Mitchell expertly blends historical fiction with dark comedy. The two combinations seem odd but I assure you Mitchell crafts quite a narrative with memorable characters.
The historical reference and notable figure centers around Fritz Haber, the inventor of chlorine gas, as well as his first wife, Clara Haber. Using the Haber's gives merit and a level of high interest to the entire story along with the three sisters and their 'family curse.' The novel forces the reader to ponder coincidence or fate, science or universe. Personally I enjoy a narrative leaving me lost in thought, mulling heavy topics and subject matter, I am certainly given much to consider with this provoking narrative.
I completely enjoyed the three sisters. As you become familiar with their personalities and individual stories, their unbreakable bond, and deep love for one another, you wish they weren't fictional characters, having tea with this trio would be entertaining at the very least.
The narrative reads rather ombré alternating from lighter moments thru darker moments, darker moments to lighter moments. Despite the doom and gloom plenty of mirth makes an appearance expectedly and unexpectedly.
Fascinating, mysterious, perfect for a group discussion, an imaginative literary family saga.
January 1, 2016
This book? Sigh, this book is the book of a decade for me. Dark, funny, thought creating, and touching. A Jewish, New York (UWS!!! My childhood neighborhood) version of Behind the Scenes at the Museum. I'll write more later -- I need to play review catch-up in a big way these days, but today is not the day. So despite this pitiful bit of excited flailing -- go read this. Now. Really, just go buy a copy, sit down with it and start reading. I'll be back to talk more about its use of humor, its probing of the meaning of familial legacies and the creation of mythic sense of fate, its ties to history, and its sheer fabulous storytelling verve, or you can just get on with it and read it now.
October 11, 2015
A Reunion of Ghosts is dark yet hilarious look at family. Written as a long collective suicide note by three sisters. It is a darkly humorous story of how we can never quite escape where and who we come from. I enjoyed the book... after awhile. So many characters and the shifting between times, places, and people felt disjointed.
There is no disputing that the writing is fantastic Judith Claire Mitchell's second novel. It is just one of those books that has a flavor you have to be in the mood for.
Once again a huge thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperPress/4th for the advanced copy of this title in exchange for this review.
There is no disputing that the writing is fantastic Judith Claire Mitchell's second novel. It is just one of those books that has a flavor you have to be in the mood for.
Once again a huge thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperPress/4th for the advanced copy of this title in exchange for this review.
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July 22, 2015Mitchell’s novel is an exploration of unintended consequences and the burdens of well-mapped bloodlines, brought together in a perfect confluence of humor and despair. Its narrators are the Alter sisters, three intelligent, tragedy-plagued women bound together by antiquing family regrets and a suicide pact. The book becomes their farewell. They detail generations of family triumphs and mishaps, recalling loves gone awry and lamenting the regrettable best-of-intentions invention that brought Germany one step closer to Zyklon B. Mitchell’s book made me laugh (right before religious services!) and cry, and will remain distinct in my memory as a rare novel that deals with huge historical events–the Holocaust, pogroms–without becoming either tedious or cloying. This novel is a surprise and a treat. –Michelle Anne Schingler
from The Best Books of 2015 So Far: http://bookriot.com/2015/07/08/the-be...
from The Best Books of 2015 So Far: http://bookriot.com/2015/07/08/the-be...
April 21, 2015
There was a lot about this novel that was simply odd. The use of first person plural is definitely not something you see often, but (to my surprise, honestly) it works really well here. The individual voices of 3 middle-aged sisters are instead replaced with the more general and muted voice of "we". Together they write about their family history, their tragic, personal lives in this memoir turned shared "suicide note".
Despite the dark themes and constant gloom, the sisters also manage to be really funny at times. I do think you have to have the right kind of sense of humour to get the most from this one. If you're not laughing at least a little bit (and probably feeling a little bad about laughing at the same time), then this might be too dreary to get through. It's an odd mix of dark comedy with historical fiction, an epic family drama, but it worked for me, at least most of the time.
The reason that I can't say I completely loved it is that I think there was some parts of the novel that were a whole lot more successful then others. The novel is mostly a scattering of separate stories, observations etc. from the family history, and there were simply some of these stories that I was more interested in and more emotionally affected by than others. Personally, I loved the beginning, but felt the narrative started to drag a little in the middle (maybe the dreariness was getting to me at that point), then picked up again (), and then I felt like the ending didn't quite work. ().
Overall, Mitchell has crafted something that could have been a disaster, but is mostly tremendously successful. Recommended if you feel like trying something a bit different, as it's certainly original and quirky, but also a bit of a risk.
Despite the dark themes and constant gloom, the sisters also manage to be really funny at times. I do think you have to have the right kind of sense of humour to get the most from this one. If you're not laughing at least a little bit (and probably feeling a little bad about laughing at the same time), then this might be too dreary to get through. It's an odd mix of dark comedy with historical fiction, an epic family drama, but it worked for me, at least most of the time.
The reason that I can't say I completely loved it is that I think there was some parts of the novel that were a whole lot more successful then others. The novel is mostly a scattering of separate stories, observations etc. from the family history, and there were simply some of these stories that I was more interested in and more emotionally affected by than others. Personally, I loved the beginning, but felt the narrative started to drag a little in the middle (maybe the dreariness was getting to me at that point), then picked up again (), and then I felt like the ending didn't quite work. ().
Overall, Mitchell has crafted something that could have been a disaster, but is mostly tremendously successful. Recommended if you feel like trying something a bit different, as it's certainly original and quirky, but also a bit of a risk.
April 12, 2016
(3.5) “Life between the cracks isn’t so bad when you’ve got sisters.” Vee, Lady and Delph are the fourth generation of Alters, a Jewish family cursed with a rash of suicides. Indeed, the majority of the novel is the middle-aged sisters’ collective suicide note, narrated in the first-person plural. Their own bittersweet narratives are here – Vee’s recurrent breast cancer and her husband’s tragic death, Lady’s ill-fated affair with a dentist and previous suicide attempts, and Delphine’s unrequited love for a gay man – but they also reach back into the past to give the stories of their ancestors, including great-grandparents Iris and Lenz Alter, the latter of whom had the ironic distinction of being the Jewish creator of Zyklon gas (based in part on Nobel Prize-winning chemist Fritz Haber; Albert Einstein also has a cameo).
I found the writing a bit stagey in places, by which I mean campy and overwritten (the puns, especially). If the novel initially reminded me of the humor of Joshua Ferris (To Rise Again at a Decent Hour) and Ned Beauman (Boxer, Beetle, especially, but he does a lot with both WWII history and wacky chemistry in all his work), I later decided it was more like Jeffrey Eugenides (and not just The Virgin Suicides). Iris and Delphine were my favorite characters, and I was glad of two late sections that break the format to give regular first-person voices. Still, I think All My Puny Sorrows is slightly better at linking sisterhood and suicide.
I found the writing a bit stagey in places, by which I mean campy and overwritten (the puns, especially). If the novel initially reminded me of the humor of Joshua Ferris (To Rise Again at a Decent Hour) and Ned Beauman (Boxer, Beetle, especially, but he does a lot with both WWII history and wacky chemistry in all his work), I later decided it was more like Jeffrey Eugenides (and not just The Virgin Suicides). Iris and Delphine were my favorite characters, and I was glad of two late sections that break the format to give regular first-person voices. Still, I think All My Puny Sorrows is slightly better at linking sisterhood and suicide.
May 3, 2015
Three sisters, Lady, Vee, and Delph, have decided to commit suicide together on December 31, 1999, and this book serves as their collective suicide note. The book examines the curse that the sisters believe their family has suffered from for generations -- "the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generations."
The sisters make up the fourth generation, the last remaining descendants of Lenz Alter, the Jewish scientist who unintentionally became the father of chemical warfare. His discoveries led to the development of Zyklon B, the gas used in Hitler's extermination camp. And so the sister's trace the sad history of their family from Lenz to themselves, laying out proof, I suppose, that their suicide is inevitable and necessary.
Mitchell has done an excellent job using the first-person plural narrative, which is not an easy thing to pull off. But it didn't really feel too gimmicky here, and I found myself completely engaged. It was, at times, a little difficult to keep all the characters straight and I found myself flipping back to the family tree at the front of the book for clarification. There's also a plot twist near the end that I'd have though might have turned more readers off, but I see no mention of it in a precursory scan of other reviews, so perhaps I am not giving others enough credit.
Overall, I think this was an interesting, if dark, take on familial history and fate.
The sisters make up the fourth generation, the last remaining descendants of Lenz Alter, the Jewish scientist who unintentionally became the father of chemical warfare. His discoveries led to the development of Zyklon B, the gas used in Hitler's extermination camp. And so the sister's trace the sad history of their family from Lenz to themselves, laying out proof, I suppose, that their suicide is inevitable and necessary.
Mitchell has done an excellent job using the first-person plural narrative, which is not an easy thing to pull off. But it didn't really feel too gimmicky here, and I found myself completely engaged. It was, at times, a little difficult to keep all the characters straight and I found myself flipping back to the family tree at the front of the book for clarification. There's also a plot twist near the end that I'd have though might have turned more readers off, but I see no mention of it in a precursory scan of other reviews, so perhaps I am not giving others enough credit.
Overall, I think this was an interesting, if dark, take on familial history and fate.
August 1, 2016
A Reunion of Ghosts is not a ghost story as the title may lead you to believe, but it is a story about ghosts. This is a story about three sisters who enter into a suicide pact, and this is their suicide note, complete with detailing of their family history and how each of their predecessors committed suicide as well and how that has affected each family member along the way. Sins of the father and all of that.
The premise itself sounded interesting and it could have been if the characters were interesting…but they just aren’t. Not the sisters or any of their relatives. They are fleshed out, but lack any depth, anything that makes you relate to them, understand them, care about them, sympathize with them or even remotely like them. For all of intentions at being a dark comedy, I didn’t find myself once laughing. Also, for a suicide note, I found the general “we” referring to themselves in the 3rd person, a rather strange and off-putting mechanism.
There isn’t one thing that stands out and makes me interested enough to continue, so I am regretfully DNFg this one at 46%.
I received an arc copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley!
The premise itself sounded interesting and it could have been if the characters were interesting…but they just aren’t. Not the sisters or any of their relatives. They are fleshed out, but lack any depth, anything that makes you relate to them, understand them, care about them, sympathize with them or even remotely like them. For all of intentions at being a dark comedy, I didn’t find myself once laughing. Also, for a suicide note, I found the general “we” referring to themselves in the 3rd person, a rather strange and off-putting mechanism.
There isn’t one thing that stands out and makes me interested enough to continue, so I am regretfully DNFg this one at 46%.
I received an arc copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley!
April 14, 2019
3.5 stars
This book is both a family history and a meditation on death. We open in the summer of 1999 as lady, Vee, and Delph The great grand daughters of a man central to the creation of Zyklon B are planning their suicide. They would not be the first members of their family to kill themselves, in fact suicide is practically a tradition among the Altar clan. This book is there suicide note and an accounting of the generations of grief their family has endured. As depressing as that sounds this book is startlingly funny. This tail is riddled with puns and wry observations about the various foibles of their deceased relatives. It is part of what made this book pleasurable to read even though I knew it’s ultimate destination.
But the book also has its flaws. The story is told largely from a plural perspective and consequently the three sisters at the center of the narrative tend to lose some of their distinct personality traits. Delph becomes The one with the hair and Vee The one with cancer. It makes it difficult to sympathize with them which is fine, this isn’t the kind of book that invites you to sympathize with its main characters, but it also makes it difficult to invest in what happens to them and that is a problem.
This book is both a family history and a meditation on death. We open in the summer of 1999 as lady, Vee, and Delph The great grand daughters of a man central to the creation of Zyklon B are planning their suicide. They would not be the first members of their family to kill themselves, in fact suicide is practically a tradition among the Altar clan. This book is there suicide note and an accounting of the generations of grief their family has endured. As depressing as that sounds this book is startlingly funny. This tail is riddled with puns and wry observations about the various foibles of their deceased relatives. It is part of what made this book pleasurable to read even though I knew it’s ultimate destination.
But the book also has its flaws. The story is told largely from a plural perspective and consequently the three sisters at the center of the narrative tend to lose some of their distinct personality traits. Delph becomes The one with the hair and Vee The one with cancer. It makes it difficult to sympathize with them which is fine, this isn’t the kind of book that invites you to sympathize with its main characters, but it also makes it difficult to invest in what happens to them and that is a problem.
May 10, 2015
Interesting premise, but the reality is disappointing. I couldn't get into it. Reading other reviews cemented my decision not to continue.
September 1, 2022
ME: I’m going to stick away from books that talk about WWII. (This category and I tend to go on long “breaks”.)
ALSO ME: This book took my breath away.
Would recommend:
1- When you’re in the mood for something darkly funny, but also oddly tender. The internal dialogue in this is stunning.
2- If you are a sucker (like I am) for a sibling-love driven plot.
3- If you miss NY.
ALSO ME: This book took my breath away.
Would recommend:
1- When you’re in the mood for something darkly funny, but also oddly tender. The internal dialogue in this is stunning.
2- If you are a sucker (like I am) for a sibling-love driven plot.
3- If you miss NY.
October 31, 2014
This book is a single suicide note from three sisters living in the family apartment in New York. Filled with chuckle-inducing subtle humor, the sisters tell the story of their inherited curse -- six suicides in three generations, the latest being their mother who flung herself into the Hudson River. The sisters are convinced that the sins of the father are visited upon the children to the 3rd and 4th generations. Before they off themselves (or do they?), they interweave their own stories with those of their ancestors, starting with their great-grandfather, a German Jew who invented chlorine gas that would later be used by the Nazis. The spot-on word-crafting of the author and quirky characters make this a most enjoyable read.
March 8, 2015
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.
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.
March 13, 2015
This novel was promoted/described as being ‘like the Virgin Suicides’, and, as a huge Eugenides fan, that’s why I picked up this book. But I’ll be blunt: this is nothing like The Virgin Suicides. It’s not even close to being like it. There’s no mystery to these main characters. Everything about them is said (mostly by themselves), in a way where nothing is left to the imagination and the reader feels like they’re being talked at for 400 pages.
The ancestors’ history was somewhat interesting, but they seemed bland and lacking dimension. Their actions seemed unmotivated – they dragged along in their respective chapters. Also, there didn’t seem to be enough of an emotional connection between the three main characters and their ancestors. They seemed too separate.
The three main characters – Lady, Vee, and Delph – seemed like cardboard cut outs. They’re interesting at first and their lives seem to be a comedy of errors. But then they bored me so much that finishing this book was a real struggle. There didn’t seem to be anything about these women that I could relate to – they seemed sad and desperate, but with no redeeming qualities. At times they were funny, but that was it.
The setting in this novel was Manhattan, but it lost (or perhaps never really had) any real vibrancy. The author did nothing to use setting to the character’s advantage. In some ways, the setting was just as depressing as the three main characters.
http://jessjustreads.com
The ancestors’ history was somewhat interesting, but they seemed bland and lacking dimension. Their actions seemed unmotivated – they dragged along in their respective chapters. Also, there didn’t seem to be enough of an emotional connection between the three main characters and their ancestors. They seemed too separate.
The three main characters – Lady, Vee, and Delph – seemed like cardboard cut outs. They’re interesting at first and their lives seem to be a comedy of errors. But then they bored me so much that finishing this book was a real struggle. There didn’t seem to be anything about these women that I could relate to – they seemed sad and desperate, but with no redeeming qualities. At times they were funny, but that was it.
The setting in this novel was Manhattan, but it lost (or perhaps never really had) any real vibrancy. The author did nothing to use setting to the character’s advantage. In some ways, the setting was just as depressing as the three main characters.
http://jessjustreads.com
August 20, 2015
3.5 stars for me. This is about 3 sisters that make a pact that they are going to commit suicide together in the late 90s. You get to know a little about their back history of each sister but what kept me going with this book is the story of their family. It seems suicide run in the family, each branch there was a notable suicide and they are kind of wanting to keep with the tradition so to speak.
It dragged in the beginning but really got me was the history of their grandfather, this is roughly based on Franz Haber whose Science Lab came up with Zyklon B, which ultimately was apart of the gas that killed millions of Jews in WW2. Different names and other situations were fictionalized but you see how guilty riddled this family for generations. I just was hoping for a different ending then what I got but it was quick, interesting read learned new things about history that is for sure.
It dragged in the beginning but really got me was the history of their grandfather, this is roughly based on Franz Haber whose Science Lab came up with Zyklon B, which ultimately was apart of the gas that killed millions of Jews in WW2. Different names and other situations were fictionalized but you see how guilty riddled this family for generations. I just was hoping for a different ending then what I got but it was quick, interesting read learned new things about history that is for sure.
November 13, 2015
I am rarely this crazy opinionated about a book...I usually can find something redeeming but that was a hard task for me with this one. I also don't give up on books but I wanted to so many times with this one that I find it hard to believe that i did finish it after about 3 weeks of reading....in comparison I read Michael Connelly's new book "The Crossing" in one day. I see no point in reading a book about selfish characters who waste their lives....and that's all I will say on this one!
February 20, 2018
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.
March 27, 2015
Totally awesome book!!!
April 22, 2015
Intriguing, dark, & twisted but could not connect. DNF!
June 24, 2018
3.5 Stars
Full review to come!
Full review to come!
January 5, 2017
I have completed my first official read of 2017! Woot!
A Reunion of Ghosts caught my eye on bookoutlet.com during a sale. I am always open to stories about sisters, family sagas, and alternate history. This book offers all of that but unfortunately not in the way I was really craving. This is a book discussing some really heavy material, so it would have been easy to get bogged down. But it's not as depressing as it might sound. It didn't strike the right balance between thought provoking, quirky, and hopeful for me either.(Three things I love in a book. I know I'm not the only one.)
Our main characters are three wacky sisters. We have Lady, the once married forever gun-shy oldest daughter. Vee, the unlucky widow battling cancer for the millionth time. And Delph, our sweet but painfully awkward tag along youngest sibling.
Intertwined with rambling anecdotes about the girls disastrous relationships and latest suicide attempts, is the history of their family. It turns out, the Alter sisters have a reason to believe in bad luck and curses. The ladies decide very early on when they are going to end it all and this story is the result. I actually ended up loving the structure of this novel. I thought it was going be a really tough read, but I was mistaken. You sortof meander along from sister to sister without realizing it, and once they begin sprinkling in family history I was totally hooked.
The sisters begin to tell us about their famous relatives, their jewish/german heritage, their ties to the Nobel Peace prize and the blood on their hands from thousands of deaths during World War I and II. Sounds intense right?
I really enjoyed the relationships between the sisters as I tend to do when I read books about female siblings. I loved their familiarity, their macabre humor, and their unwavering commitment to each other. I also really enjoyed the discussions about coincidences (or lack thereof) through the book. These sections don't come off preachy or sentimental, they are just really quippy and fun.
Unfortunately the last section of the book fell really flat for me. I understand why the author finished things up that way, so that everything could continue being explained and we could find out what happened to our characters. But honestly...it just felt like cheating. Not the way I wanted things to go down.
That being said I did really enjoy the alternate history portions and the segments exclusively between the sisters. But the portrayal of women throughout this entire book made me initially uncomfortable, and then really irritated. And the Alter's are all just basically awful terrible people. And the sisters describe their experiences but they all just feel interchangeable to me. Nothing about them really stands out and I kept mixing them up as I was reading the story. I wish we had focused more on them instead of giving them one final hurrah in the last chapter. Everything in the third act felt like filler to me. Because I knew where the story was going I just wanted to get there.
All in all, if you like dark humor, interesting tidbits about suicide, family drama, the history of poisonous gas, science, sisterly banter, and tragic endings, this is the book for you. A pretty decent start to a wonderful year or reading.
A Reunion of Ghosts caught my eye on bookoutlet.com during a sale. I am always open to stories about sisters, family sagas, and alternate history. This book offers all of that but unfortunately not in the way I was really craving. This is a book discussing some really heavy material, so it would have been easy to get bogged down. But it's not as depressing as it might sound. It didn't strike the right balance between thought provoking, quirky, and hopeful for me either.(Three things I love in a book. I know I'm not the only one.)
Our main characters are three wacky sisters. We have Lady, the once married forever gun-shy oldest daughter. Vee, the unlucky widow battling cancer for the millionth time. And Delph, our sweet but painfully awkward tag along youngest sibling.
Intertwined with rambling anecdotes about the girls disastrous relationships and latest suicide attempts, is the history of their family. It turns out, the Alter sisters have a reason to believe in bad luck and curses. The ladies decide very early on when they are going to end it all and this story is the result. I actually ended up loving the structure of this novel. I thought it was going be a really tough read, but I was mistaken. You sortof meander along from sister to sister without realizing it, and once they begin sprinkling in family history I was totally hooked.
The sisters begin to tell us about their famous relatives, their jewish/german heritage, their ties to the Nobel Peace prize and the blood on their hands from thousands of deaths during World War I and II. Sounds intense right?
I really enjoyed the relationships between the sisters as I tend to do when I read books about female siblings. I loved their familiarity, their macabre humor, and their unwavering commitment to each other. I also really enjoyed the discussions about coincidences (or lack thereof) through the book. These sections don't come off preachy or sentimental, they are just really quippy and fun.
Unfortunately the last section of the book fell really flat for me. I understand why the author finished things up that way, so that everything could continue being explained and we could find out what happened to our characters. But honestly...it just felt like cheating. Not the way I wanted things to go down.
That being said I did really enjoy the alternate history portions and the segments exclusively between the sisters. But the portrayal of women throughout this entire book made me initially uncomfortable, and then really irritated. And the Alter's are all just basically awful terrible people. And the sisters describe their experiences but they all just feel interchangeable to me. Nothing about them really stands out and I kept mixing them up as I was reading the story. I wish we had focused more on them instead of giving them one final hurrah in the last chapter. Everything in the third act felt like filler to me. Because I knew where the story was going I just wanted to get there.
All in all, if you like dark humor, interesting tidbits about suicide, family drama, the history of poisonous gas, science, sisterly banter, and tragic endings, this is the book for you. A pretty decent start to a wonderful year or reading.
September 25, 2016
Well that was a strange read. A book staged as a memoir and collective suicide note by three sisters who believe their family carries a curse that has plagued four generations and led to many suicides and other tragedies. That being said, this is not a depressing read. It is mostly fictional, although some of the characters are based to varying degrees on an actual family. But what I came away from this book with is the sense that family (with all it's attending stories, history and traditions) can really affect how you see yourself and the direction you see your life taking whether you are fully aware of it or not. I really liked the characters in this story and they'll probably stay with me for a while which is always a sign of a good book.
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