Madeleine's Ghost

by Robert Girardi

Book Overview

Brooklyn needs a saint. Ned Conti needs a stipend. So the struggling young historian agrees to trace the mysterious past of a Brooklyn nun for evidence of miracles. Trapped in a neighborhood of cheap... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385314825
• ISBN13: 9780385314824
• Release Date: July 1995
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 356 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.9" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Finally something worth reading!

I knew from Paragraph 1 that Madeleine's Ghost would be a winner. The haunting in his apartment, his relationship with his neighbors, friends and the priest, and the uncertain life of living in New York (with the low rent, projects and bodies) all work together to make this an excellent novel. Ned Conti seems to be hovering on the line between skepticism and faith. He and his friends, Chase, Jillian, Molesworth, are ever so alive in the story. Parts of the book made me laugh out loud and other parts made me think. It's also nice to read a novel where the main character hasn't shed his religious faith, either. The story kept going at an even pace and was well put-together. Very entertaining.

Just Read It!!

I have no idea what book the negative reviewers were reading - but my well-worn copy, and much gifted copies to friends was and remains a wonderful, powerful read. The book is much deeper than you think - yes it is a love story, a ghost story, a history, a mystery and God forbid, even a happy ending for the troubled souls in the book, and the audience. As a person who is haunted by places at times, the book evokes that sense of lost time wonderfully - and Ned Conti is proof that persistence is key, although good fortune, even in small amounts never hurts. This is a wonderful book. Read it and enjoy the trip. I have given away 10 copies, and everyone loved it. Who you going to believe?

Wonderfully grounded for a ghost story.

I was caught from the opening scene, with the stones falling from the ceiling. The book held me fast with its intricate twining of cities, people, places and times, not to mention the juxtapostion of the supernatural on the often otherworldly weirdness of the modern world. The mingled plots developed and kinked and then worked themselves out beautifully. The protagonist, painfully naive at times, managed to have his eyes opened and maintain his innocent dignity through to the end. Very engaging story.

No Cheesy Spooks In White Sheets Here!!!

A very classy debut novel from Robert Girardi. My friend loaned me a copy for my vacation and I was completely engrossed from start to finish. Travelling back and forth in time to the very different cities of New York and New Orleans, the story revolves around Ned Conti, a thirtysomething who lacks direction in his life and the paranormal events that occur in his apartment during one hot summer in New York. Wonderfully atmospheric descriptions of Conti's gritty existence in New York and the seedy side of 19th Century New Orleans. Amazing - I haven't read such a good ghost story since Susan Hill's "The Woman In Black".

Great ghost/love story novel

This book combines the best of a ghost and a love story. It also manages to convey the gritty, seamy side of New York City where crime and muggings have become second nature and contrast it with the down-home, blues-driven, relaxed style of New Orleans life - past and present. You read of drugs, despair, saints and sinners and what happens to people who make wrong choices for what they perceive to be right reasons. You can travel back and forth in time and when the story ends, you end up knowing that there is another story still to be written about many of these characters. These people were humans with human weaknesses and failings. You could sympathize as well as recognize their fantasies and beliefs and you are satisfied at the book's end that everything came together in a complete circle of time.