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Madeleine's Ghost: A Novel
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 rents and failed promise, in a rent-controlled apartment suddenly, inexplicably seized by a beautiful and angry ghost, Ned's only refuge is the F train to Manhattan's East Village bars, where he and his friends drown their sorrows in drink....
But Ned is about to heed another call, the siren song of New Orleans, where the history of countless lost souls seems to rise from the steaming streets--and where, ten years before, he ended a brief, passionate affair with a woman whose memory has haunted him ever since. Here, in a city of spirits, Ned will embrace a dead saint and a living sinner...as a beautiful ghost offers him her desire. And his destiny....
Set amid the sleepless energy and seething passion of New York and New Orleans, Madeleine's Ghost is a spellbinding novel of lost love, history, and desire--a work of startling originality that is at once exquisitely written and compulsively readable.
But Ned is about to heed another call, the siren song of New Orleans, where the history of countless lost souls seems to rise from the steaming streets--and where, ten years before, he ended a brief, passionate affair with a woman whose memory has haunted him ever since. Here, in a city of spirits, Ned will embrace a dead saint and a living sinner...as a beautiful ghost offers him her desire. And his destiny....
Set amid the sleepless energy and seething passion of New York and New Orleans, Madeleine's Ghost is a spellbinding novel of lost love, history, and desire--a work of startling originality that is at once exquisitely written and compulsively readable.
356 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1995
15 people are currently reading
561 people want to read
About the author
Robert Girardi
16 books36 followersRobert Girardi is the author of four previous novels and one volume of novellas, all of which have been widely translated. He has written for film and television. His nonfiction pieces and reviews have been published in The Washington Post, Washingtonian, The New Republic, The National Review and Landscape Architecture Magazine, among other publications. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and USC Film School, Girardi has received a James Michener Fellowship. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his three children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
June 27, 2016
Strangely beautiful. A NYC story that turns into a New Orleans story that comes back to NYC, travels back in time and returns to the present, which seems to still be some sort of a past. Or a slacker story that turns to love story to quest story to redemption story to love story again. A story of a man named Ned Conti who starts off with next to nothing and ends up with his heart's desires, there are enough grand themes and second chances to warrant a saga. I don't know if I'm doing this book justice, it was such a lovely thing to read, almost hauntingly so to pun on the name. There's just a kind of a terrific blend of hyper realism and supernatural that worked so well, with such striking descriptions and such great writing. Love a good NY story, usually the city gets so pretentiously glamorized, but Girardi really depicts it as a Dantean circle, terrible inhumane place to live. Neither New York nor New Orleans have any appeal to me personally but they make for really epic literary settings. This isn't turning out to be a very cogent review, but point is I loved this book. If I had to be specific, I suppose it's about love and miracles in no particular order. Terrific random library find. Literate, engaging, enjoyable, awesome writing, compelling characters, exactly what a book ought to be like. Most enthusiastically recommended.
March 4, 2012
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.
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.
April 1, 2008
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.
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.
August 29, 2013
There needs to be another option on Goodreads - 'Gave Up'.
This is supposed to be a story about a ghost and a saint in Brooklyn. I actually rather liked the first person present manner of writing, and the descriptions of place and detail in general are excellent. But I lost the ghost and certainly didn't expect to get in back during Part Two, set as it is some ten years before and in New Orleans.
Trying to be too clever I think and not what it was advertised as. Too many books to try to waste precious time persevering when I'm not enjoying one.
This is supposed to be a story about a ghost and a saint in Brooklyn. I actually rather liked the first person present manner of writing, and the descriptions of place and detail in general are excellent. But I lost the ghost and certainly didn't expect to get in back during Part Two, set as it is some ten years before and in New Orleans.
Trying to be too clever I think and not what it was advertised as. Too many books to try to waste precious time persevering when I'm not enjoying one.
December 27, 2008
I did not find this book to be engaging at all. I thought the characters were weak and moronic. The story tried jumping back and forth through times and locations, but failed to flow nicely. There was not enough "Madeleine's Ghost" to be called "Madeleine's Ghost." In my opinion, it should have been called, "Ned the dumb*** and his stupid decisions." The only redeeming quality of this book were the locations. All in all, I did not like this book.
August 9, 2019
3.5 stars - There's much to like in this New York/New Orleans ghost story, but it's a bit too ambitious at times. Although he goes a little overboard in his descriptions of Brooklyn and New Orleans, Girardi shows in his debut novel that he's clearly a talented writer. I hope to read some of his work. Thanks to my friend Anne for recommending (and loaning) the book to me.
August 30, 2021
I read this novel not long after it was first published and thought it one of the best ghost stories I'd read. I reread it periodically and while I don't think it's as brilliant as I once did, I still find it very solid, enjoyable and well written.
October 1, 2010
I'm not sure how I felt about this one. I'm giving it a 2, but I think parts of it were a 3 or 3.5, so maybe it's more of a 2.5-2.75.
Overall, I think Robert is a very good writer and paints a vivid picture of his characters and their lives. I just don't know how I felt towards the main character though; sometimes I kind of got him, but other times he turned me off. I didn't really understand where he was coming from and why he seemed so content to let his life pass him by. Not that I cared he did, I just didn't get his motivations for doing so- I didn't think his relationships fully explained that part.
From a story perspective, the book is about a guy living in New York who takes a job, out of desperation of cash, with a priest at a church in Brooklyn (circa late eighties, early nineties I believe.) The priest wants him to find evidence that a nun who used to work for the church should be named a saint. This part of the story is interesting and I think had a lot of potential to be good and go into some background there. Unfortunately, that part is only touched on in the beginning and from there, the author diverts from the story of the nun into the life and background of the main character. We get a little bit of the ghost that lives in his apartment, but not a lot before we dive into his life in New York, his neighbors, friends and ultimately, his former girlfriend.
Then the entire middle or more of the book is part flashback of his time living in New Orleans and his "relationship" with this girl. The other part is him going back to New Orleans, supposedly because this is where the nun came from before she moved to New York; but what he really came back for was to see the girl. The problem with this part of the story is that the ghost is barely, if at all, mentioned and the nun's story gets very little coverage- it's almost throwaway. It's really not until the end that he gets back to the nun's story and then the story lines converge.
While I liked how everything came together at the end, I kept thinking that this is what the majority of the book should have been like, with him looking for, and finding, small clues to the nun's life. Instead, we find out that we were getting clues or parts of the story all along, but the focus had shifted so much from the nun and ghost that I wasn't even thinking about them, which made me feel cheated. I like trying to figure out clues and how everything ties together, but at very few points did I feel the author led us to believe we were getting further into the nun/ghost plot; instead I felt we were losing track during the entire mid-section of the book.
I think I felt almost the opposite of what most reviewers felt. It's hard to explain, but to me it was as though the middle of the book was the real story the author wanted to tell and the beginning and end were just ways for him to make that part of the story more interesting. To me, it should have been just the opposite. The middle should have been built to make the ghost/nun story more interesting. Maybe it's because the book sells itself as Madeleine's Ghost, my expectations were for that to be the meat of the story instead of what we got- basically the story of this guy's life. I don't feel the mystery of the book was played up enough to keep it interesting or much of a mystery at all.
Also, the book had kind of a depressed tone to it. While I don't think the main character was depressed per se, overall it was kind of a downer as most of the characters were somewhat dysfunctional and floundering in life. Which is fine, but they all just seemed so ambivalent about their lives, it made me feel that way as well- there was nobody to really root for.
On a good note, I do think the author is a very talented writer and has a good voice. He really gets across the feel of a place and allowed you to build a good visual of New York and New Orleans. To me, that was the real story- a tale of two cities in a way. Perhaps had it been billed this way, I would have liked it more. I was just expecting more of a ghost/mystery story than what I got.
Overall, I think Robert is a very good writer and paints a vivid picture of his characters and their lives. I just don't know how I felt towards the main character though; sometimes I kind of got him, but other times he turned me off. I didn't really understand where he was coming from and why he seemed so content to let his life pass him by. Not that I cared he did, I just didn't get his motivations for doing so- I didn't think his relationships fully explained that part.
From a story perspective, the book is about a guy living in New York who takes a job, out of desperation of cash, with a priest at a church in Brooklyn (circa late eighties, early nineties I believe.) The priest wants him to find evidence that a nun who used to work for the church should be named a saint. This part of the story is interesting and I think had a lot of potential to be good and go into some background there. Unfortunately, that part is only touched on in the beginning and from there, the author diverts from the story of the nun into the life and background of the main character. We get a little bit of the ghost that lives in his apartment, but not a lot before we dive into his life in New York, his neighbors, friends and ultimately, his former girlfriend.
Then the entire middle or more of the book is part flashback of his time living in New Orleans and his "relationship" with this girl. The other part is him going back to New Orleans, supposedly because this is where the nun came from before she moved to New York; but what he really came back for was to see the girl. The problem with this part of the story is that the ghost is barely, if at all, mentioned and the nun's story gets very little coverage- it's almost throwaway. It's really not until the end that he gets back to the nun's story and then the story lines converge.
While I liked how everything came together at the end, I kept thinking that this is what the majority of the book should have been like, with him looking for, and finding, small clues to the nun's life. Instead, we find out that we were getting clues or parts of the story all along, but the focus had shifted so much from the nun and ghost that I wasn't even thinking about them, which made me feel cheated. I like trying to figure out clues and how everything ties together, but at very few points did I feel the author led us to believe we were getting further into the nun/ghost plot; instead I felt we were losing track during the entire mid-section of the book.
I think I felt almost the opposite of what most reviewers felt. It's hard to explain, but to me it was as though the middle of the book was the real story the author wanted to tell and the beginning and end were just ways for him to make that part of the story more interesting. To me, it should have been just the opposite. The middle should have been built to make the ghost/nun story more interesting. Maybe it's because the book sells itself as Madeleine's Ghost, my expectations were for that to be the meat of the story instead of what we got- basically the story of this guy's life. I don't feel the mystery of the book was played up enough to keep it interesting or much of a mystery at all.
Also, the book had kind of a depressed tone to it. While I don't think the main character was depressed per se, overall it was kind of a downer as most of the characters were somewhat dysfunctional and floundering in life. Which is fine, but they all just seemed so ambivalent about their lives, it made me feel that way as well- there was nobody to really root for.
On a good note, I do think the author is a very talented writer and has a good voice. He really gets across the feel of a place and allowed you to build a good visual of New York and New Orleans. To me, that was the real story- a tale of two cities in a way. Perhaps had it been billed this way, I would have liked it more. I was just expecting more of a ghost/mystery story than what I got.
July 2, 2011
A love story, ghost story, and mystery all rolled into one and set in the two cities with which I am most familiar (outside of my own hometown) -- New York and New Orleans. It was this fact of the story's dual locations that caused me to pick the book up in the first place; I love to read about places that I have actually visited! I also love ghost stories, so this was sort of a "slam dunk" for me.
The author does a good job of painting the urban (and bayou) backdrops for the story without having location overpower the action. The characters, particularly the cohorts of Ned Conti, the narrator of the story, are vividly drawn; I felt that, if I did not precisely know them, then I had at least seen them on my visits to these two colorful cities. The story is good, with an intertwining of past and present that keeps things interesting but is not difficult to follow. (Hey, I'm old -- sometimes I don't want to work that hard to follow a story!)
Anyway, this one is a recommended read. (I debated between 4 and 5 stars, but decided on 4 stars because, while I liked the story, it wasn't so gripping that I just couldn't put it down, which is one of my personal criteria for a 5 star fiction rating.) Now, who's up for a trip to New York or New Orleans?
The author does a good job of painting the urban (and bayou) backdrops for the story without having location overpower the action. The characters, particularly the cohorts of Ned Conti, the narrator of the story, are vividly drawn; I felt that, if I did not precisely know them, then I had at least seen them on my visits to these two colorful cities. The story is good, with an intertwining of past and present that keeps things interesting but is not difficult to follow. (Hey, I'm old -- sometimes I don't want to work that hard to follow a story!)
Anyway, this one is a recommended read. (I debated between 4 and 5 stars, but decided on 4 stars because, while I liked the story, it wasn't so gripping that I just couldn't put it down, which is one of my personal criteria for a 5 star fiction rating.) Now, who's up for a trip to New York or New Orleans?
January 31, 2010
Girardi is a remarkable writer.
Ned Conti is a New Orleans graduate history student who has stalled on his disseration. He's living in Brooklyn in a seedy apartment that he shares with a ghost. Conti starts work for a local priest who wants a 19th century nun from his church to be canonized. The story flip flops back and forth and even though you enjoy every page you begin to wonder how it's all going to fit together. Don't worry, it does. I enjoyed this so much, I'm going to read it again in about a year.
Ned Conti is a New Orleans graduate history student who has stalled on his disseration. He's living in Brooklyn in a seedy apartment that he shares with a ghost. Conti starts work for a local priest who wants a 19th century nun from his church to be canonized. The story flip flops back and forth and even though you enjoy every page you begin to wonder how it's all going to fit together. Don't worry, it does. I enjoyed this so much, I'm going to read it again in about a year.
February 28, 2009
If you are interested in books about Louisiana and New York, this book might be worth the read. Unfortunately the setting is pretty much the highlight of this story. The main character is a rather uninteresting professional student who doesn't really do much himself, so much as respond to what happens about him, sarcastically responding and giving a long winded historical viewpoint of things that rambles on and on. Much of this could have been edited down without the story suffering at all.
March 9, 2023
Family Book Club
I would have never read this book if not for book club. I did not enjoy this at all. I didn't like any of the characters, I found the writing to be too descriptive, and the "plot" to be all over the place (if you can even call it a plot). When reading the summary I was intrigued by the saint/ghost potential, however, only about 10% of this book contributed to that storyline. The remaining 90% of the book was useless.
I would have never read this book if not for book club. I did not enjoy this at all. I didn't like any of the characters, I found the writing to be too descriptive, and the "plot" to be all over the place (if you can even call it a plot). When reading the summary I was intrigued by the saint/ghost potential, however, only about 10% of this book contributed to that storyline. The remaining 90% of the book was useless.
August 8, 2016
Eh this book kind of wandered around without much point until things finally came together at the end. But none of the characters was likable...lots of vices and getting stuck in unending ruts of drinking and drugs. The setting of New Orleans gave a little something unique as well as a different part of NYC than is typically written about in books. I could take or leave the ghost stuff.
May 1, 2020
One of my all time favorites
Part ghost story, part love story, part history with a sprinkling of wisdom found in unlikely places and a twist at the end. Lush descriptions bring to life the grit of the city and the heat of New Orleans. Every time I read it, I find something new to appreciate. Thank you.
Part ghost story, part love story, part history with a sprinkling of wisdom found in unlikely places and a twist at the end. Lush descriptions bring to life the grit of the city and the heat of New Orleans. Every time I read it, I find something new to appreciate. Thank you.
March 22, 2013
Who do I talk to to get those hours of my life back?
Read
August 26, 2016Couldn't get into it. Not my type of book
October 30, 2017
just very boring, DNF, stopped at about 130 pages
September 27, 2024
5 stars. Please and thank you. I’m still in shock from how wonderful this book ended up being, and I’m amazed how one story could be woven from what felt like (at least at the beginning of the book) such different strands: a ghost story, a Saint’s story, a conversion story, and a love story first and foremost.
I’ll be recommending this book forever; it was such an entertaining read, with such an incredible sense of humor I found myself laughing out loud recalling details and dialogue later. It doesn’t take itself too seriously for a single second. I think one of my favorite tropes is the “normal”, nondescript main character forcibly surrounded by a crew of wacky larger-than-side characters, and this book does it in a perfectly measured way. It took me a little while to warm up to narrator/principal victim Ned Conti, but once he had unraveled a bit and the story transitioned almost fully into New Orleans I was 100% won over.
I’ll be recommending this book forever; it was such an entertaining read, with such an incredible sense of humor I found myself laughing out loud recalling details and dialogue later. It doesn’t take itself too seriously for a single second. I think one of my favorite tropes is the “normal”, nondescript main character forcibly surrounded by a crew of wacky larger-than-side characters, and this book does it in a perfectly measured way. It took me a little while to warm up to narrator/principal victim Ned Conti, but once he had unraveled a bit and the story transitioned almost fully into New Orleans I was 100% won over.
July 21, 2017
Wow! This author is so knowledgeable, particularly about NYC and New Orleans, as well as Catholicism and the Creole and Cajun cultures. His descriptions of the two cities are extensive, so much so that I got a little bogged down because I'm so unfamiliar with them; but also my interest is piqued particularly for New Orleans and its rich cultural heritage. I picked the book rather randomly because it's a ghost story, but the story was really more about the protagonist, his loves and his lives in NYC and NOLA. Following the different plot threads and suspecting that they would eventually be tied together and wondering just how that was going to happen kept me turning pages, even as my eyes glassed over with so many references to places, customs, etc., that I couldn't relate to. Overall, I really enjoyed this book; and I believe I need to become a little more culturally enlightened!
November 13, 2022
I LOVED this book, which was recommended by my independent bookseller. It is set in both NYC and New Orleans with the story surrounding an author who feels a spiritual presence in his apartment. Girardi's descriptions are lush; particularly the ones for New Orleans and the Creole and Cajun cultures. I felt like I was walking the streets with him. I found that each chapter ends with a profound and artfully crafted sentence; there are not wasted words. It called to mind Shakespeare's Act-ending couplets. I am going to give this book as a gift and hope to read it again. It is a perfect companion for "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."
NOTE to publisher: I found the font very difficult to read. Small with tiny x-heights and thin serifs. It was very slow going. Please reprint with new font or in large print.
NOTE to publisher: I found the font very difficult to read. Small with tiny x-heights and thin serifs. It was very slow going. Please reprint with new font or in large print.
May 1, 2021
While reading Madeline’s story, I thought I found one part of the book I didn’t like. Up to that point, it had pulled me in. But I’m happy to say by the end, I was back in love with it again, even Madeline’s story was wrapped up nicely. It’s hard to believe this book is 26 years old. Inside the cover, I found a jury summons for a trial that took place here 25 years ago. The lady who received the summons must have used it as her bookmark when she brought it to the courthouse to read while she waited. And since she wrote the judge’s name on the summons, she must have been picked to sit on the jury too. I’m thinking of leaving this book, along with its bookmark, in a little free library not far from where I work. At the courthouse.
November 27, 2019
An interesting premise of an other-worldly comingling with ours. Where it is detailed and captivating in the nuances and intricacies of how a thing is possible, however, it is light on the rationale and impetus for why this thing is necessary. The ethereal nature is fun to ponder upon and explore, but when it comes down to a tangible storyline and a deeper resonance, there is something lacking. In its place are some usual tropes: our world is devoid of the values and essence that only ghosts and the other world can provide. An wonderous place to visit, but perhaps not inhabit.
August 2, 2025
Our protagonist encounter a ghost in his new home and needs to finds scripts of a nun at his new job 🤔. we also go through his past relationship. this is a story of 2 people ,how they become connected through time.
story buildup is good , the author has structured the plot in 5 segments ,slowly setting the scene for the final act of reveal, which is great.
this rating would probably be because I literally thought it was ghost story.
overall -3/5
plot-3.5/5
story writing -4/5
character -4/5
romance -3/5
story buildup is good , the author has structured the plot in 5 segments ,slowly setting the scene for the final act of reveal, which is great.
this rating would probably be because I literally thought it was ghost story.
overall -3/5
plot-3.5/5
story writing -4/5
character -4/5
romance -3/5
May 1, 2020
I read this book many years ago and picked it off my shelf again recently during the library shut down. I liked it a lot then, and I still like it now. You don’t often come across a cynical yet romantic portrayal of Catholicism in the modern world, and one with ghosts, to boot! The fairy tale ending is a bit too much, but Girardi was young when he wrote it. It would be a sin to punish the young for believing in happy ever after.
March 7, 2022
This book was an amazing ride from New York City to New Orleans, back to NYC and then finally back to New Orleans. One man’s journey of finding himself and his future through the past. Ned is an historian tasked with finding a new saint, as he explores papers stored away in a dank crypt of a Brooklyn cathedral, his own past and that of a ghost in his apartment all mingle in mind blowing coincidences and miracles happen.
June 13, 2017
A beautifully written story of lost love, an agonized ghost, a frustrated golfer priest, and a lot of secrets all played out in New York and in New Orleans. It's one of those books that you start late at night and realize you have to stay up and keep reading.
September 8, 2024
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It took me through a range of emotions and kept me so entertained that I couldn't put it down. It's been a while since I enjoyed reading and this book brought the spark back.
June 24, 2017
Interesting in parts, but not good enough to want to read again. I thought it was a ghost story. It was barely that. A lot of sex, drugs, alcohol and swearing. Also a bit of spirtuality.
November 13, 2017
If you want to read a ghost story this book can be recommended
November 25, 2017
I had great hopes for this book but couldn't get on with it. One of those rare books I put down before finishing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews