Annie's Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret

Annie's Ghosts is a wonderful book, well researched and beautifully written in a simple, direct style.When his mother died, Luxenberg discovered he'd had an aunt, warehoused for many years in a Detroit mental hospital. Why? Why hadn't he and his siblings been told? He launched an investigation into his aunt's history, which led to an investigation into the asylum system itself. Each discovery raised more questions. The book zigzags back and forth in time and place between the author's childhood in Detroit, his parents' wartime letters, and the small Russian/Polish/Ukrainian town his grandparents had left. Don't miss the Note at the end.

My maternal great grandfather died in Eloise, as did my maternal grandmother. While I remember visiting my grandmother at Eloise (she was there due to Pick's Disease), and remember her before she was placed there, the only information I could find about her father was his death certificate. He was also there for Pick's, a variation of frontal temporal dementia. But there are no photos of him that I have been able to find, so I understand the author's sadness at never finding a photo of Annie. To this day I don't understand why my mother took me with her to visit my grandmother - only me. The visits still haunt me. My mother fell victim to the same disease - and I will be forever grateful that she was able to live out her final days cared for and cherished in her own home.

"Annie's Ghost" was very interesting to me. It's kind of history, kind of a geneaology mystery but most of all, it's a family memoir. The pace was a little uneven yet I could not put it down. There are also many characters but I didn't need to remember all the names, just kind of went with the flow. The very things that left me wanting--Annie's or other inmates day-to-day life in the asylum, the grandparents seeming lifelessness--ultimately added to the book's charm for me. When I finished I had that lovely river-of-life feeling. So good to be reminded now and then how small and temporary we all really are!Unlike some readers, I understand why Annie's sister did what she did, both at the time Annie was institutionalized and afterwards when she did not speak of her sister. She did what she did to save herself and then was silent both for herself personally and so she didn't have to rehash the situation with ignorant, judgmental others.All that said, there is something very curious about "Annie's." Was she instututionalized because she was pregnant? That question is never even asked let alone explored though it would have been common practice in Annie's era. She was locked up in an institution because she didn't get her period her sister's friend tells the author. We are not told if she simply had never matured or if this only occurred after she was raped. The subject is dropped like a hot potato. I kept waiting for that idea to come up for the entire rest of the book but it conspicuously never did! Like it was chopped out by some editor. Or maybe I just missed something!

It was eye opener into the past of how people were treated. Having a child born with a disability or mentally ill, brought shame or stigma to thousands of families. Out of sight out of mind is that where the phase came from. These people were thrown away either hidden or institutionalized, not worth remembering or caring about in life, and in death they weren't even given a headstone, unknown in life and death. I give Mr Luxenberg credit for the hours,months perhaps years searching and researching trying to find any information about his aunt. Only two years different in age between his mother and aunt you would think there would be one family picture of two little girls. I guess we can assume Annie looked like her sister Beth. At least today a patient isn't institutionalized on comments of one Dr, as was the case in earlier part of the last century. Imagine no one spoke to the patient or tried or further spoke to the families, it was the Drs who had the final word. Patients were not even reevaluated later for possibly being discharged. I am glad a person's disability today is not something of embarrassment to families today and people are not sent away as they were in the past. It was quite an insight into the psychiatric institutions of the past. Reading this was good

Having been doing family genealogy for over 30 years, I was drawn to this book. Many family trees have a mystery somewhere in them, and mine has 2 or 3. I like that this book tells the real story. The struggle to search when many first hand witness's are passed away, and primary sources are scarce. I also appreciate the effort to tell the story and respect that the people who began the secret, and/or helped keep it did so in a life context that was very different from the authors time. I believe he did an amazing job of telling about his family mystery while educating his readers about the social times surrounding his family at the time.This is a great read for those who like social histories, family researchers, especially those looking into mysteries and secrets in their own families, or anyone who appreciates a good, true story about family histories.

Brilliant Book great read.Elaine

Excellent book. Very touching story

Interesting story but bogs down in historical detail.

An interesting read.