American Ghost

A Family's Extraordinary History on the Desert Frontier

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture, History, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book American Ghost by Hannah Nordhaus, Harper
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Hannah Nordhaus ISBN: 9780062249234
Publisher: Harper Publication: March 10, 2015
Imprint: Harper Language: English
Author: Hannah Nordhaus
ISBN: 9780062249234
Publisher: Harper
Publication: March 10, 2015
Imprint: Harper
Language: English

“A haunting story about the long reach of the past.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’S Fresh Air

“In this intriguing book, [Nordhaus] shares her journey to discover who her immigrant ancestor really was—and what strange alchemy made the idea of her linger long after she was gone.” —People

La Posada—“place of rest”—was once a grand Santa Fe mansion. It belonged to Abraham and Julia Staab, who emigrated from Germany in the mid-nineteenth century. After they died, the house became a hotel. And in the 1970s, the hotel acquired a resident ghost—a sad, dark-eyed woman in a long gown. Strange things began to happen there: vases moved, glasses flew, blankets were ripped from beds. Julia Staab died in 1896—but her ghost, they say, lives on.

In American Ghost, Julia’s great-great-granddaughter, Hannah Nordhaus, traces her ancestor’s transfiguration from nineteenth-century Jewish bride to modern phantom. Family diaries, photographs, and newspaper clippings take her on a riveting journey through three hundred years of German history and the American immigrant experience. With the help of historians, genealogists, family members, and ghost hunters, she weaves a masterful, moving story of fin-de-siècle Europe and pioneer life, villains and visionaries, medicine and spiritualism, imagination and truth, exploring how lives become legends, and what those legends tell us about who we are.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

“A haunting story about the long reach of the past.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’S Fresh Air

“In this intriguing book, [Nordhaus] shares her journey to discover who her immigrant ancestor really was—and what strange alchemy made the idea of her linger long after she was gone.” —People

La Posada—“place of rest”—was once a grand Santa Fe mansion. It belonged to Abraham and Julia Staab, who emigrated from Germany in the mid-nineteenth century. After they died, the house became a hotel. And in the 1970s, the hotel acquired a resident ghost—a sad, dark-eyed woman in a long gown. Strange things began to happen there: vases moved, glasses flew, blankets were ripped from beds. Julia Staab died in 1896—but her ghost, they say, lives on.

In American Ghost, Julia’s great-great-granddaughter, Hannah Nordhaus, traces her ancestor’s transfiguration from nineteenth-century Jewish bride to modern phantom. Family diaries, photographs, and newspaper clippings take her on a riveting journey through three hundred years of German history and the American immigrant experience. With the help of historians, genealogists, family members, and ghost hunters, she weaves a masterful, moving story of fin-de-siècle Europe and pioneer life, villains and visionaries, medicine and spiritualism, imagination and truth, exploring how lives become legends, and what those legends tell us about who we are.

More books from Harper

Cover of the book Eliza's Fancy (A Faery Romance Parts Two and Three) by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book Purpose by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book The Ides of March by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book The Anatomy of Type by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book Ode to Color by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book The Hallowed Isle Book One by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book Dead Men's Harvest by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book The Magnificent Medills by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book Reading the Silver Screen by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book Shabby Chic: The Gift of Giving by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book Good House Hunting by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book The Detective & the Chinese High-Fin by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book The Perfectionists by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book High Voltage Tattoo FF by Hannah Nordhaus
Cover of the book The Curse of Chalion by Hannah Nordhaus
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy