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Annie's Ghosts
Annie's Ghosts | Luxenberg
4 posts | 9 read | 14 to read
The Great Michigan Read 2013-14 Michigan Notable Book for 2010 A 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. Steve Luxenberg's mother always told people she was an only child. It was a fact that he'd grown up with, along with the information that some of his relatives were Holocaust survivors. However, when his mother was dying, she casually mentioned that she had had a sister she'd barely known, who early in life had been put into a mental institution. Luxenberg began his researches after his mother's death, discovering the startling fact that his mother had grown up in the same house with this sister, Annie, until her parents sent Annie away to the local psychiatric hospital at the age of 23. Annie would spend the rest of her life shut away in a mental institution, while the family erased any hints that she had ever existed. Through interviews and investigative journalism, Luxenberg teases out her story from the web of shame and half-truths that had hidden it. He also explores the social history of institutions such as Eloise in Detroit, where Annie lived, and the fact that in this era (the 40s and 50s), locking up a troubled relative who suffered from depression or other treatable problems was much more common than anyone realizes today.
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monalyisha
Annie's Ghosts | Luxenberg
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Now that @Annie1215 has opened her #HauntedHollowSwap gift, I can share this magical swap-shopping moment with you. ✨

On my way home from Vermont, I pulled over to this tiny, artsy barn/shop on the side of the road, laden with *the* funkiest handmade garden sculptures. I thought maybe I‘d find a little something to include in my #HHS package. Behold! Look what I found when I turned this vintage mug over!

I probably definitely didn‘t squeal. 😅

wanderinglynn That‘s so cool! 🎃🧡 2y
Annie1215 I know I squealed! 😂 this is right up my alley 2y
Sleepswithbooks Awesome!!! 2y
Crazeedi Soo cool!!!!! 2y
marleed Oh I love this - how thoughtful! 2y
56 likes5 comments
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Suzze
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The author never knew about his aunt. His mother never spoke of her. She lived at Eloise Asylum. Eloise was in my town, and has always been a place of legends. It was an asylum and poorhouse. Many patients were buried in graves marked only by a number. All records were lost years ago, so no one knows whose graves they are. I recently found my grandfather‘s death certificate. He died there. I had never known this. #BlackCatChallenge #Cemetery

Wife 🖤 Good book. I live near the cemetery where Annie is buried. I hear there are tours of Eloise, but we can never get tickets before they are sold out. 5y
DivineDiana What a discovery! 😮 5y
Crazeedi Wow, I must look for this book 5y
See All 8 Comments
Suzze @Wife Do we live that close to each other? (No memory) I‘ve seen ads for those tours. 5y
Wife St. Clair Shores 5y
Wife Annie is buried in a Jewish cemetery near Mt Clemens. 5y
Suzze @Wife Ah! I live in Westland. 5y
Wife New dates/times available for tours if you‘re interested 🖤 5y
61 likes3 stack adds8 comments
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Suzze
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Eloise, a local former mental hospital/poorhouse, is the setting for this non-fiction. The author discovered, after his parents‘ death, that his mother had a sister, named Annie, who lived at Eloise. His mother always said she was an only child and he strives to explain why she hid this information. All records from Eloise have been lost, so finding out anything is near impossible.. #MisterAsylum #tuneintonovember

Cinfhen Sounds so sad 😞 6y
Suzze Extra note: Recently found my grandfather‘s death certificate. He died here before I was born. I do not know if he was in the asylum or the poor house. Family secrets. @Cinfhen (edited) 6y
66 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Bookshelf.Dolls
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Pickpick

A child born into a young woman erased from time. Heart breaking true story of family secrets, mental institutions and a ghost waiting to be found.