LEADER 00000nam  2200409 i 4500 
001    sky304648964 
003    SKY 
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008    211003s2022    nyuocf   b    001 0aeng   
010    2021025844 
020    9780812997927|q(hardcover) 
020    0812997921|q(hardcover) 
040    LBSOR/DLC|beng|erda|cDLC|dSKYRV|dUtOrBLW 
042    pcc 
043    n-us--- 
082 00 929.20973|223/eng/20211108 
092    BIO|bNEWTON 
100 1  Newton, Maud,|eauthor. 
245 10 Ancestor trouble :|ba reckoning and a reconciliation /|cby
       Maud Newton. 
250    First edition. 
264  1 New York :|bRandom House,|c[2022] 
300    xviii, 378 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates :
       |bphotographs, portraits ;|c25 cm 
336    text|btxt|2rdacontent 
337    unmediated|bn|2rdamedia 
338    volume|bnc|2rdacarrier 
504    Includes bibliographic references and index. 
505 00 |tA doorway --|tNot forgotten --|tLike a lenticular print 
       --|tSkeletons and magnolias --|tFamily secrets --|tDNA 
       sleuthing --|tA universal family tree --|tTaking a bite --
       |tIt skips a generation --|tAn impulse to leap --|tThe 
       idea of heredity --|tGenes expressing themselves --
       |tGrandma's eyes --|tThe family face --|tMugshots from DNA
       --|tGrudging kinship --|tChasing the dream --|tEmotional 
       recurrences --|tHeirlooms and disinheritance --|tMonstrous
       bequests --|tNot racist --|tDisconnection --
       |tUnacknowledged remains --|tThe witch --|tGenerational 
       curses --|tVeneration --|tLineage repair --|tThe namesake 
       --|tBeneficial and malignant creativity --|tRoots. 
520    "Maud Newton's ancestors have vexed and fascinated her 
       since she was a girl. Her mother's father, who came of age
       during the Great Depression in Texas, was supposedly 
       married thirteen times, and survived being shot in the 
       stomach by one of his wives. His father purportedly killed
       a man in the street with a hay hook, and later died in a 
       mental institution. On her father's side, a Massachusetts 
       ancestor was accused of being a witch, who cast sickness 
       on her neighbor's ox and was later tried in court for 
       causing the death of a child. Maud's father had a master's
       in aerospace engineering on scholarship from an Ivy League
       university and was valedictorian of his law school class; 
       he also viewed slavery as a benevolent institution that 
       should never have been disbanded, and would paint over the
       faces of brown children in her storybooks. He was obsessed
       with maintaining the purity of his family bloodline, which
       he could trace back to the days of the Revolutionary War. 
       Her mother was a whirlwind of charisma and passions that 
       could become obsessions; she kept over thirty cats and 
       birds in a tiny two-bedroom apartment, and later started a
       church in her living room, where she would perform 
       exorcisms. Maud's parents' marriage was acrimonious, their
       divorce a relief. But the meeting of their lines in her 
       was something she could not shake. She signed up for an 
       online account and began researching her genealogy. She 
       found records of marriages and trials, wills in which her 
       ancestors gave slaves to their spouses and children. The 
       search took over her life. But as she dabbled in DNA 
       testing and found herself sunk in census archives at 1 
       o'clock in the morning, it was unclear to her what she was
       looking for. She wanted a truth that would set her free, 
       in a way she hadn't identified yet. This book seeks to 
       understand why the practice of genealogy has become a 
       multi-billion-dollar industry in contemporary America, 
       while also mining the secrets and contradictions of one 
       singularly memorable family history."--|cProvided by 
       publisher. 
600 10 Newton, Maud. 
600 10 Newton, Maud|xFamily. 
600 30 Newton family. 
650  0 Genealogy. 
650  0 Genetic genealogy|zUnited States. 
650  0 Racism|zUnited States. 
651  0 United States|xRace relations.