Reunion Of Ghosts, A

Description: 'What if the man who invented chemical weapons was also a grandfather, and what if his great-grandchildren grew up to be three hilarious, introverted, deeply-haunted sisters? And what if those sisters co-wrote a fascinating, funny, and deeply sad 350-page suicide note? Then you'd have A REUNION OF GHOSTS.' Anthony Doerr Meet the Alter sisters: Lady, Vee and Delph. These three mordantly witty, complex women share their family's apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. They love each other fiercely, but being an Alter isn't easy. Bad luck is in their genes, passed down through the generations. Yet no matter what life throws at these siblings, they always have a wisecrack - and each other. In the waning days of 1999, the sisters decide it's time to close the circle of the Alter curse. But first, as the world counts down to the dawn of a new millennium, Lady, Vee and Delph must write the final chapter of a saga generations in the making - one that is inexorably intertwined with that of the twentieth century itself. Unspooling threads of history, personal memory and family lore, they weave a mesmerising account of their lives that stretches back decades to their great-grandfather, a brilliant scientist whose professional triumph became the sinister legacy that defines them. Magnificent and heartbreaking, A REUNION OF GHOSTS is an epic novel about three unforgettable women, bound to each other and their remarkable family through the blessings and the burdens bestowed by blood.

Review: 'A triumphant, beautiful, and devastating novel about coincidences, family, and the sins of our fathers' Anthony Doerr, author of All The Light We Cannot See 'My favourite novel of the year ... This mordantly funny story of the Alter sisters is a literary mash-up of The Virgin Suicides and Grey Gardens. I wouldn't be surprised if Wes Anderson and Sofia Coppola are slugging it out for the film rights already.' Sam Baker, Harpers Bazaar, Books of 2015 'Mitchell's masterful family saga is as funny as it is aching ... with deep empathy and profound wit. For the Alters, life has been a seemingly endless series of tragedies; for us, the tragedy is that this stunning novel inevitably comes to an end.' Kirkus, starred review 'Dark but comedic, A Reunion of Ghosts is the portrait of four generations of a complicated family and the tragedies that seem to pass on from generation to generation.' Buzzfeed, 'The Most Exciting New Books of 2015' 'Mitchell explores the mixed-blessing bonds of family with wry wit. This original tale is black comedy at its best.' People 'The Alter sisters are mordant, wry and crystalline in wit and vision; it is a tremendous pleasure to rocket through generations of their family histories with them.' Lauren Gorff, author of Arcadia 'A rich portrait of a complicated family, at turns violent and hilarious, shot through with love and death and the scars that reappear generation after generation' Emma Straub, author of The Vacationers


Author Biography: Judith Claire Mitchell, author of 'The Last Day of the War', is an English professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing. A graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, she currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, the artist Don Friedlich. www.judithclairemitchell.com