Critical Praise

“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. This is a triumphant, beautiful and devastating novel about coincidences, family and the sins of our fathers.”

—Anthony Doerr, New York Times bestselling author of ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE

“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. Judith Claire Mitchell understands what’s at the marrow of our funny bones: that humor lives in darkness, that our families are our curses and our blessings, that great pain can beget great warmth and love.”

—Lauren Groff, New York Times bestselling author of THE MONSTERS OF TEMPLETON and 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, New York Times bestselling author of THE VACATIONERS

“Mitchell’s triumphant second novel explores love, identity, and the burdens of history in coruscating, darkly comic prose…Moving nimbly through time and balancing her weightier themes with the sharply funny, fiercely unsentimental perspectives of her three protagonists…[it] is poignant and pulsing with life force.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Three middle-aged sisters collaborating on a memoir that’s meant to double as their collective suicide note may not sound like a hilarious premise for a novel, but Mitchell’s masterful family saga is as funny as it is aching…Moving seamlessly between the past and the present…it captures the agony and ecstasy (but mostly agony) 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 Reviews (starred review)

“My favourite novel of the year so far…Set as the millennium approaches, this mordantly funny story of the Alter sisters --- Lady, Vee and Delph --- 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, Harper's Bazaar online (UK)

“For the Alter sisters, living with the guilt of the generations, there is only one way out…This novel is a carefully crafted, thought-provoking examination of history past and present as seen through the eyes of a complex yet humble family.”

—Booklist

“A clever, modern tale that…hearkens back to…a host of unusual, lively memorable characters…Darkly humorous.”

—Library Journal