I very rarely read novels written by men anymore, but for some reason I picked this one off my shelf (after a fifteen year snooze there) and I am so glad that I did. It is simply one of the best novels I've ever read.It didn't strike me that way in the beginning, though it was good enough. We meet Ned Conti, a rather directionless, down at the heels graduate student who gets a job finding documentation to support the canonization of a nun who died nearly a century ago. The past seems to have it in for Mr. Conti; his apartment is haunted by a female spirit, and he himself is haunted by the memory of a short but intense affair with a woman named Antoinette, in New Orleans ten years before.Antoinette Rivaudais is indeed unforgettable. A raven-haired, pill-popping, charismatic, lost, wayward rich girl, she captured Ned's heart and mine as well. She is so flawed, but so heartbreakingly so. In time, the ghost reveals what she wants, and Antoinette reappears in Ned's life. It may kill him or save him to pursue the three interwoven storylines (counting the nun) to their resolution. I'll just say that, by the time I closed the book, I knew I would never forget it.
One of my favourite books. I'm not usually into ghost stories but the interplay between the two strands - one in the past and the other in the present - coalesce nicely at the end as all is made clear about their link to each other and the role that a lost soul from the past has to play in the rehabilitation of two lost souls in the present.The writing is concise but with a gentle irony that, when combined with the first person singular voice, makes the book more human and resonant than conventional narrative devices.A cracking read and one which I always enjoy when I pick it up again.
Do You like book Madeleine's Ghost (1996)?
I loved this book and always recommend Robert Girardi to friends. I wish he would write more books! Get crackin', Bob, I've read all your old stuff! Give us something new! This book was especially interesting to me since it takes place largely in places I've lived or visited extensively. Girardi changes the names and layout of the cities and towns just enough to create an entirely new fictional geography based on reality, but a tiny bit askew. It works wonderfully, I've never seen another author do it to such great effect.
—Kerry
this is a great book - what a story line! good imagination for this ghost story.Ned is a poor historian that lives in a bad neighborhood and drinks a lot. he is hired to go through and trace the history of a nun for evidence of miracles (story 1). Ned is also being haunted by a woman ghost in his apartment (story 2). not only is he haunted by the ghost - Ned is also haunted by a woman he is in love/obsessed with - a troubled woman from new orleans with a very colorful past and a family with a very haunting rich historical back ground (story 3 & 4) - as it turns out - all 4 stories tied in together and makes a very interesting read and everyone (even the nun and the ghost) all are connected.overall - a very good read. maybe the author had too many stories in this one story - so he may have been a little too ambitious...but i really did enjoy and thought he did a very good job connecting it all. would definitely recommend this book.
—Iris
