Helpful Score: 3
This is a compelling and powerfully written novel about a missing relative discovered when the author's mother was dying. It is difficult to imagine conditions during the depression and WWII when mental illness was a such a horrible stigma that it required an endless web of deceit endorsed by the entire family. In learning more about his family, Luxenberg learned how the past connects inexorably with the present and future. I was very affected by this book, as will be everyone who reads it.
Shana R. (LynniePennie) reviewed Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret on + 169 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
It usually seems almost all families have their secrets, things that they'd prefer outsiders not know for one reason or another. What about secrets within the family, kept by your own mother, from the family itself? Imagine finding out you had a very close relative that you never knew even existed. That's exactly what happened to the author Steve Luxenburg. I found myself sympathizing with him throughout the book.
This memoir is about the author's mission to find out how and why his mother has kept this startling secret has been. The author, having grown up being told by his mother Beth that she was an only child, something she took every opportunity to make more than perfectly clear to Steve Luxenberg & his four siblings. Hence, they were stunned to find out Beth had a sister. Due to Beth's frail mental & physical health (and figuring she had her own reasons)the Luxenbergs did not confront their mother about the secret that they uncovered.
After Beth's passing, the author, who'd been taking charge in trying to uncover the family secret, stepped up his investigation. What he discovered was an amazing story that will leave the reader disheartened and deeply moved emotionally. It may even make you a bit furious that a mother would do this to her children. I couldn't imagine why a mother would put her children through the mental torture that Beth put her son (the author) through.
You'll find yourself wondering why Luxenberg's mother decided to hide her sister's existence from even her own children. That very decision & question is at the heart of Annie's Ghosts and Luxenberg does a wonderful job of maintaining the balance between reporter and son as he trys to come to grips with this secret and the pain it has caused him and his family.
It's a very interesting book but, not my usual reading genre. Regardless, it kept me interested until the last page. You can't help but, to admire the author's persistance to find the truth no matter how it hurt him. I'd recommend this book to anyone.
This memoir is about the author's mission to find out how and why his mother has kept this startling secret has been. The author, having grown up being told by his mother Beth that she was an only child, something she took every opportunity to make more than perfectly clear to Steve Luxenberg & his four siblings. Hence, they were stunned to find out Beth had a sister. Due to Beth's frail mental & physical health (and figuring she had her own reasons)the Luxenbergs did not confront their mother about the secret that they uncovered.
After Beth's passing, the author, who'd been taking charge in trying to uncover the family secret, stepped up his investigation. What he discovered was an amazing story that will leave the reader disheartened and deeply moved emotionally. It may even make you a bit furious that a mother would do this to her children. I couldn't imagine why a mother would put her children through the mental torture that Beth put her son (the author) through.
You'll find yourself wondering why Luxenberg's mother decided to hide her sister's existence from even her own children. That very decision & question is at the heart of Annie's Ghosts and Luxenberg does a wonderful job of maintaining the balance between reporter and son as he trys to come to grips with this secret and the pain it has caused him and his family.
It's a very interesting book but, not my usual reading genre. Regardless, it kept me interested until the last page. You can't help but, to admire the author's persistance to find the truth no matter how it hurt him. I'd recommend this book to anyone.
Cis H. (californiadreamin) reviewed Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret on + 279 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Interesting subject, and I agree with most reviewers that almost all families have secrets. When the secret holder dies, it leaves the rest of the family wondering. Luxenberg writes well, and is thorough in his investigation so you get the feeling his journalism kicks in when it could have been so simple to let the personal, family snooping take over. I appreciated all of the digging he did, especially in the old country. My impression was that the reason for the secret was not so much shame or embarrassment as it was fear. Fear of not being a viable bride if her family was 'tainted' by defect. Well worth the read!
Helpful Score: 1
There is quite a story here. This book is part memoir, part investigation, part history. The memoir is really a biography of the author's mother, and the sister that he didn't know existed until after his mother died. There is a lot of history on mental illness and subsequent hospitalization, as well as the treatment of people with developmental disabilities. The book is long and some may find it drawn out, but all in all it was very good and interesting.
Leslie L. (genealogygeek) reviewed Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret on + 47 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Loved this! Had all the ingredients of a great mystery plus genealogy, historical context, everything! A keeper for my library!
âThough we share so many secrets
There are some we never tellâ
The Stranger by Billy Joel
When journalist Steve Luxenberg discovers after his mother's death that she was not an only child, bur rather had a physically and mentally disabled sister, Annie, he embarks on a journey to uncover the truth behind his mother's secret. What he discovers is a societal and legal system that for decades sequestered the mentally ill and disabled into institutions â leaving behind few traces of the person institutionalized. And on a personal level, he gains insight into his mother's abandonment of Annie. Luxenburg surmises that his mother felt compelled to keep her sister's existence a secret because at that time (the 30's - 40's) âpsychiatry was a long way from curing the seriously ill; and . . . genetics [were believed to] be a factor.â
Although Luxenberg's quest does not uncover all the answers to his questions he expresses overall satisfaction with the results. He reflects that âmy search has allowed me to achieve a freedom of my own: free to see my mother as she was, free to embrace her flaws and accept her choices, free to put aside, once and for all, [and] the pain of not being able to help her . . .â
Annie's Ghosts is a fascinating detective story/memoir of one son's determination to understand.
Publisher: Hyperion (May 5, 2009)
Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the publisher and FSB Associates.
There are some we never tellâ
The Stranger by Billy Joel
When journalist Steve Luxenberg discovers after his mother's death that she was not an only child, bur rather had a physically and mentally disabled sister, Annie, he embarks on a journey to uncover the truth behind his mother's secret. What he discovers is a societal and legal system that for decades sequestered the mentally ill and disabled into institutions â leaving behind few traces of the person institutionalized. And on a personal level, he gains insight into his mother's abandonment of Annie. Luxenburg surmises that his mother felt compelled to keep her sister's existence a secret because at that time (the 30's - 40's) âpsychiatry was a long way from curing the seriously ill; and . . . genetics [were believed to] be a factor.â
Although Luxenberg's quest does not uncover all the answers to his questions he expresses overall satisfaction with the results. He reflects that âmy search has allowed me to achieve a freedom of my own: free to see my mother as she was, free to embrace her flaws and accept her choices, free to put aside, once and for all, [and] the pain of not being able to help her . . .â
Annie's Ghosts is a fascinating detective story/memoir of one son's determination to understand.
Publisher: Hyperion (May 5, 2009)
Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the publisher and FSB Associates.
annies ghosts takes you places that you sometimes just don't want to go. the places that
you keep safe from others so it's your secret and yours alone. but secrets have a way of
coming out. annies ghost takes you down that road. and it's a dark, fustrating and always
uncertain road. steve luxenberg does his mother proud with his non-judgmental portrait of
his journey and his dealing with systems not meant to help those out there who simply just
want answers to a past that has haunted them and there loved ones. i highly reccomend this
book for those who want a true life adventure into what our parents world might have held.
you keep safe from others so it's your secret and yours alone. but secrets have a way of
coming out. annies ghost takes you down that road. and it's a dark, fustrating and always
uncertain road. steve luxenberg does his mother proud with his non-judgmental portrait of
his journey and his dealing with systems not meant to help those out there who simply just
want answers to a past that has haunted them and there loved ones. i highly reccomend this
book for those who want a true life adventure into what our parents world might have held.
Captivating, enlightening story
Loved this book..well written, thoughtful, and thought provoking! I could hardly put it down adn was sorry to see it end.
Every family has its secrets. But keeping a whole person a secret cannot possibly be an easy task, can it? This is one of the answers Steve Luxenberg - journalist, genealogist, historian and detective - seeks, as he searches for the aunt his mother never discussed.
After his mother's death in 1999 at the age of 82, he learns that she had a sister two years younger, who lived into her early 50's. And his mother had always emphatically claimed to be an only child.
This book deals with so many different subjects, from how American society, from the 1920's to the 1970's, dealt with the mentally ill and physically disabled, to the nature of the Holocaust in the Soviet Union. It deals with the ambiguity and elusiveness of memories, and with tackling a bureaucracy bent on keeping the privacy of the dead intact.
I loved traveling on this journey with Mr. Luxenberg, and it was very satisfying to watch him seek out and find many of the answers he was looking for, even though the answer to why his mother perpetuated the secret of Annie can only be an educated guess.
On a personal note, I'm the family genealogist, I'm a social worker by training, and I love history. As a result, this book was right up my alley.
After his mother's death in 1999 at the age of 82, he learns that she had a sister two years younger, who lived into her early 50's. And his mother had always emphatically claimed to be an only child.
This book deals with so many different subjects, from how American society, from the 1920's to the 1970's, dealt with the mentally ill and physically disabled, to the nature of the Holocaust in the Soviet Union. It deals with the ambiguity and elusiveness of memories, and with tackling a bureaucracy bent on keeping the privacy of the dead intact.
I loved traveling on this journey with Mr. Luxenberg, and it was very satisfying to watch him seek out and find many of the answers he was looking for, even though the answer to why his mother perpetuated the secret of Annie can only be an educated guess.
On a personal note, I'm the family genealogist, I'm a social worker by training, and I love history. As a result, this book was right up my alley.
I LOVED most of this book. Because I live in the Detroit area & that is the location of the story there is a lot for me to 'connect to & with' - I even knew of a few people mentioned. This book was very captivating, haunting & informative of mental illness, treatment or lack of. There was an awful lot of statistics that was some of which I didn't enjoy. I found myself thinking about this story each time I laid it down ... mostly in sadness of the story.
