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foxykitty's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.25
kleonard's review against another edition
1.0
There is so much wrong with this book, I can hardly recount it all. Casual sexism, racism, ageism. sizeism, ableism, incredibly sloppy research, lack of knowlwdge of the relevant history, and utter speculation as filler for much of the book.
ladylizardxvii's review against another edition
5.0
What a beautiful story about an author's search for information and answers about some of her ancestors. The story of the Staabs was gripping, and I loved Nordhaus's integration of her own story and journey with that of her relatives'.
I thought it was really interesting especially that she included the fact that she consulted with psychics and mediums about Julia. I thought it was kind of hokey at first, but then I realized that she was writing about a ghost story: it does make sense to get the opinion of ghost hunters or people who claim to be able to commune with the other side, whether or not Nordhaus herself believes in that. Her thoughts about death and how she wants to live her life were also lovely and actually quite comforting.
Although I'm afraid my ancestry would not nearly be so interesting, I am a little inspired to maybe go hunting a little and find some of my own stories!
I thought it was really interesting especially that she included the fact that she consulted with psychics and mediums about Julia. I thought it was kind of hokey at first, but then I realized that she was writing about a ghost story: it does make sense to get the opinion of ghost hunters or people who claim to be able to commune with the other side, whether or not Nordhaus herself believes in that. Her thoughts about death and how she wants to live her life were also lovely and actually quite comforting.
Although I'm afraid my ancestry would not nearly be so interesting, I am a little inspired to maybe go hunting a little and find some of my own stories!
katemoxie's review against another edition
1.0
After 202 pages I returned it too the library, unfinished. The author went off on too many tangents - including chapters on people who weren't even represented on the family tree. Her sudden focus on Bertha -- daughter of Julia, the great-great grandmother whom the book was about -- should have referenced that Bertha was the author's great grandmother on her father's side and that's why the shift from Julia to Bertha (though what bearing that had on Julia's reputed haunting of what had once been her Santa Fe home is beyond me). It took a bit to figure out that Flora was some relation to Julia's mother-in-law and really had no bearing on the events around Julia - just a contrast to Julia's life style. (who cares?)
dsbressette's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent read: part family memoir, part history, part ghost story. Nordhaus does a fascinating job introducing us to her ancestor, Julia Staab. Having been to Santa Fe, I loved getting some Santa Fe history too. Highly recommend
amycrea's review against another edition
4.0
Really fun and thoughtful exploration of family history and legend through the lens of the author's great-great-grandmother, who is said to haunt her former Santa Fe home, now an upscale hotel.
mwgerard's review against another edition
4.0
I am very lucky to have a grandmother and a father who are very into genealogy and ancestry. She held on to family quilts and dug up photos of relatives long since gone. I have the strange privilege of looking back on this people, 150 years ago, knowing that although we never met, we are connected. There are few images from my father’s side, but he has managed to trace our roots to the 14th century.
But as far as I know, none of them is a famous ghost.
Please read my full review here: http://mwgerard.com/accent-american-ghost-by-hannah-nordhaus/
But as far as I know, none of them is a famous ghost.
Please read my full review here: http://mwgerard.com/accent-american-ghost-by-hannah-nordhaus/
jenostrum's review against another edition
2.0
I hate to abandon a book, but this one feels like torture to read. I find that I'm forcing myself to read a few pages, and then I get to read something I like. With so many books on my To Read list, ain't no one got time for that.
If you like genealogy and the Southwest, this might be for you. I happen to like neither, so it goes back to it's library home tomorrow.
If you like genealogy and the Southwest, this might be for you. I happen to like neither, so it goes back to it's library home tomorrow.
maishaimani's review against another edition
3.0
I love history but I could've used more ghosts and less history. I felt like the whole book was leading up to the author spending the night in the haunted room and it was a bit underwhelming. The historical bits were very interesting but I was hoping I'd get more freaked out than I did.