Short Synopsis
The award-winning journalist and author of The Beekeeper's Lament attempts to uncover the truth about her great-great-grandmother, Julia—whose ghost is said to haunt an elegant hotel in Santa Fe—in this spellbinding exploration of myth, family history, and the American West.

Full Synopsis
The dark-eyed woman in the long black gown was first seen in the 1970s standing near a fireplace. She was sad and translucent, present and absent at once. Strange things began to happen in the Santa Fe hotel where she was seen. Gas fireplaces turned off and on without anyone touching a switch. Glasses flew off shelves. And in one second-floor suite with a canopy bed and arched windows looking out to the mountains, guests reported alarming events: blankets ripped off while they slept, the room temperature plummeting, disembodied breathing, and dancing balls of light.

La Posada—"place of rest"—had been a grand Santa Fe home before it was converted to a hotel. The room with the canopy bed had belonged to Julia Schuster Staab, the wife of the home's original owner. She died in 1896, nearly a century before the hauntings were first reported. In American Ghost, Hannah Nordhaus traces the life, death, and unsettled afterlife of her great-great-grandmother, Julia, from her childhood in Germany to her years in the American West with her Jewish merchant husband. As she traces the strands of Julia's life, Nordhaus uncovers a larger tale of how a true-life story becomes a ghost story and how difficult it can sometimes be to separate history and myth.

"Perceptive, witty, and engaging, Nordhaus observes that 'it's not so much the ghost that keeps the dead alive. . . as it is the story'" ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"A thoughtful and intriguing chronicle of familial investigation." ---Kirkus

"[T]he book's unique blend of genres and its excellent writing make it hard to put down." ---Booklist Starred Review

"Narrator Xe Sands's matter-of-fact narration captures each character's individuality." ---Library Journal Audio Review

"Sands's clear voice and refreshing cadences add an authenticity that listeners will find engaging." ---AudioFile

Publishers Weekly Review

Booklist Review

AudioFile Earphones Award Winner