Nancy's Reviews > Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation

I literally inherited an interest in genealogy; there was my maternal grandfather’s family tree, researched by a distance relative, given to me at his death, and a published book of my father’s family. I became interested my unknown ancestors, and my husband’s family, and after joining Ancestry.com discovered hundreds of ancestors, corresponded with relatives hitherto unknown, and found shocking secrets. There were also insights, such as seeing a great-great-great grandmother who was the image of my aunt.

Maud Newton’s interest started in girlhood. She heard stories of her ancestors and wondered how much was true, and how her ancestor’s troubles were related to her own experiences. In Ancestor Trouble, Newton explores the many ways our ancestors impact us through generational trauma, shared DNA, inherited traits, and even affect our spiritual and emotional lives. Her wide-ranging book delves into our interest in our ancestors, science, mysticism, mythology, religion, spiritualism, and psychology. At the heart of the book is her grappling with her own family inheritance of mental illness.

The older I get, the more I search backward, as though if I could know everyone who led to my father, who made him who he is, I would know him, too.
Ancestor Trouble by Maud Newton

Newton came from a troubled family. Her parents married because her father decided they would produce perfect children. Of course, they were imperfect people and produced imperfect people. An intelligent, accomplished man, her father held to antiquated ideals of white superiority and an obsession with eugenics, which she later traced to his family’s roots as slave owners. His grandfather was bipolar, a man of accomplishments and failures and rumored to have had thirteen marriages. Her mother embraced an evangelical Christianity and started her own church. She saw demons and angels. Newton traced her mother’s ancestors to Puritan England witches.

Learning how our DNA data is not private, and how it is and could be used, was unsettling. I had just seen a TV crime show that used DNA to create images of suspects, and discovered it is a real thing. The United States has no law forbidden use of DNA to create phenotyping.

I found the book often fascinating, and Newton’s family story engaging.

I received a free egalley from the publisher. My review is fair and unbiased.