One of my favorite parts of the Sunday newspaper is the "Books" section. Today's Star Tribune included an intriguing book review about a woman's search for the truth behind her great-great-grandmother's ghost. American Ghost: The True Story of a Family's Haunted Past was written by Hannah Nordhaus who, according to the review, has known since she was a child that her great-great-grandmother haunted a hotel in Sante Fe, NM. The book is a non-fiction account of Nordhaus' research into her g-g-grandmother's life and death.

To develop her story Nordhaus took all the usual steps: digging in dusty archives, reading newspaper clippings and diaries, interviewing family members and searching online genealogy. But she also visited psychics, a step that never occurred to me in my own research. How lucky Nordhus is to have such fascinating circumstances in her family history! Reviewer Ann Mayhew concludes:

American Ghost is beautifully written and self-aware, a memoir that tells a story and searches for broader lessons. It addresses sexism and mental illness, connection to place, motherhood and anti-Semitism...It's not just a story of one woman, but the story of a family through generations.