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Informative,
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3 reviews

Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret
by Steve Luxenberg

Published: 2009-05-05
Hardcover : 416 pages
4 members reading this now
13 clubs reading this now
3 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 3 of 3 members
Newly selected Great Michigan Read 2013-14 and a Michigan Notable Book for 2010

One of the Washington Post Book World's "Best Books of 2009," Memoir

Beth Luxenberg was an only child. Or so everyone thought. Six months after Beth's death, her secret emerged. It had a name: Annie.

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Introduction

Newly selected Great Michigan Read 2013-14 and a Michigan Notable Book for 2010

One of the Washington Post Book World's "Best Books of 2009," Memoir

Beth Luxenberg was an only child. Or so everyone thought. Six months after Beth's death, her secret emerged. It had a name: Annie.

Praise for Annie's Ghosts

"Annie's Ghosts is one of the most remarkable books I have ever read . . . From mental institutions to the Holocaust, from mothers and fathers to children and childhood, with its mysteries, sadness, and joy--this book is one emotional ride."
--Bob Woodward, author of The War Within and State of Denial

"Steve Luxenberg sleuths his family's hidden history with the skills of an investigative reporter, the instincts of a mystery writer, and the sympathy of a loving son. His rediscovery of one lost woman illuminates the shocking fate of thousands of Americans who disappeared just a generation ago."
--Tony Horwitz, author of A Voyage Long and Strange and Confederates in the Attic

"I started reading within minutes of picking up this book, and was instantly mesmerized. It's a riveting detective story, a moving family saga, an enlightening if heartbreaking chapter in the history of America's treatment of people born with what we now call special needs."
--Deborah Tannen, author of You Just Don't Understand and You're Wearing That

"This is a memoir that pushes the journalistic envelope . . . Luxenberg has written a fascinating personal story as well as a report on our communal response to the mentally ill."
--Helen Epstein, author of Where She Came From and Children of the Holocaust

"A wise, affecting new memoir of family secrets and posthumous absolution."
--The Washington Post

"Annie's Ghosts will resonate for many, whether the chords have to do with family secrets, the Depression, memories of a thriving Detroit, the Holocaust's horrors, or the immigrant experience."
--The Detroit Free Press

Editorial Review

No editorial review at this time.

Excerpt

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Discussion Questions

Suggested by Members

what was the greatest mystery : His mother or his Aunt?
Do you think the way we handle our
by Earleygirlsbooks (see profile) 06/18/14

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

No notes at this time.

Book Club Recommendations

Memory foods
by Earleygirlsbooks (see profile) 06/18/14
we all also brought a food item that we remember from our past family meals. and shared a mystery we wish we could solve.

Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
  "A true mystery and detective story"by ELIZABETH V. (see profile) 09/14/17

This is a detective story, and it’s a mystery, and it’s true. Steve Luxenberg, a journalist, investigates the life of the aunt he never knew or knew of and the secret his mother kept to ... (read more)

 
  "Annie's Ghost"by Bette S. (see profile) 11/18/16

This book was very interesting to me because I live in the Detroit area and have for my whole life. I studied at Eastern University and did volunteer hours at Northville State Hospital as part of completing... (read more)

 
  "Annies Ghost"by J.M. E. (see profile) 06/18/14

We found the book to be inspiring to all of us that were interested in our own family trees and the struggle to find informaton. the story was so realistic of most of us.

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