The Ghost Orchid: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: ghost orchid, ilex grove, hellebore root, Milo Latham, Tom Quinn, Frank Campbell (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An isolated Victorian mansion in upstate New York is the backdrop for Goodman's latest literary mystery (after The Drowning Tree), which stars a debut novelist and her fellow residents at the artists' retreat Bosco. Ellis Brooks has been accepted to Bosco primarily because her first novel is to be a fictional account of the mansion's mysterious past; while there will be no deaths during her stay, there's spookiness aplenty, as well as several 1893 murders still begging resolution. Goodman's narrative alternates between Ellis's first-person present and 1893. Coincidentally—or not—two of Bosco's other guests are also working on projects related to the mansion. But they turn out to be little more than convenient accessories as Ellis, the daughter of a psychic (and possessor of certain powers of her own), unlocks clue after mystical clue to secrets long buried by the mansion's original owners. As great a player as any is the mansion itself and its creepy (and possibly haunted) gardens. Is this an updated Victorian drawing room mystery or a romance novel/crime fiction–cum–ghost story? Never mind. Enjoy the atmosphere. And enjoy the ride; its twists and turns mesmerize, even if they don't surprise.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Nestled deep in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains lies the Bosco estate, a nineteenth-century mansion that was once the home of lumber magnate Milo Latham and his wife, Aurora. A rambling property nearly buried under the ruins of once--opulent statuary gardens and mazes, Bosco now serves as an exclusive creative retreat, where artists and writers live and work under almost oppressive seclusion. Inspired by a timeworn pamphlet describing the scandalous events that took place there in 1893, first-time novelist Ellis Brooks comes to Bosco to write about the tragedies that befell the Latham family and the role Corinth Blackwell, a spiritual medium, played in the family's downfall. When Ellis uncovers the family's secrets, she and her fellow writers find themselves imperiled by the house's sinister history. Goodman's mastery of eerily atmospheric and richly intricate plots is nowhere more evident than in this deliciously menacing and harrowing tale of greed and avarice, where perception is reality, and where past and present collide with disastrous results. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (April 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345462149
• ISBN-13: 978-0345462145
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #438,649 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ms. Goodman's best so far !, August 22, 2006

By	E. Stanclift "els4, book lover" (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Ghost Orchid: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have been a huge fan of Carol Goodman's books, ever since I inhaled "The Lake of Dead Languages". Her writing style, her storytelling ability and her sense of "place" when telling a story are unsurpassed.

Her newest book did not disappoint me. It was filled with intrigue, questions, and a deep connection to the upstate New York region she has so captured. The characters were multi-dimensional, and I felt as if I had gotten to each of them.

My only disappointment was not wanting the book to end ! It is an excellent read, and I am certain fans of her earlier works will find it engrossing.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best of Ms. Goodman, July 9, 2006

By	Timothy Haugh (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Ghost Orchid: A Novel (Hardcover)

Admittedly, Carol Goodman is not an author to whom I would naturally gravitate; however, life's encounters sometimes change things. I happened to be working with Ms. Goodman's brother the year her first novel came out. I had the opportunity to meet her and read her first novel. In the years since, I have continued to read her novels and, though I might not put them in the pantheon of greatness, I have always enjoyed them. Her latest novel, The Ghost Orchid, is no exception.

In fact, I would say that this novel is best she has written. Her skill with prose has certainly improved with each novel and her deft handling of two time periods which she weaves together to tell a single story is impressive. I would say that it was this technique that really drew me into her tale which would otherwise have held much less interest for me.

In this novel Ellis Brooks goes to a writers' retreat at an estate called Bosco in upstate New York. As she researches and writes her first novel based on the original owners of the estate, strange things begin to happen and she, as well as the other writers living at the estate, become caught up in the mystery of the summer of 1893. In the wake of the deaths of her children, Aurora Latham invites a medium, Corinth Blackwell, to conduct seances to help her contact her children. This leads to a series of tragic events whose twisted connections stretch all the way to the present day. It is a solid, albeit light, thriller with its suspense and surprises.

On the other hand, though Ms. Goodman has written her best here, she still remains mired in the same general set-ups that she has relied on for all her novels--a female writer/artist protagonist, a New York/New England setting, a touch of the supernatural, and water running through it all. (In this novel, a huge, complex fountain that dominates the estate as well as the Hudson River.) I admit that I am curious about what hold water has over Ms. Goodman but I am growing weary of her consistency. I want her to test herself with something more.

That being said, anyone who is a fan of Ms. Goodman should find this book to be excellent. Anyone who hasn't yet tried one of her novels would not be amiss to start with this one. In my estimation, she has reached the pinnacle of what her obsessions can offer in this novel.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an enthralling read, February 9, 2006

By	tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Ghost Orchid: A Novel (Hardcover)

It is not all that easy to write a modern gothic novel. In fact in my opinion only Mary Stewart and Barbara Michaels have really excelled in this genre. Over the past few years, however, Carol Goodman has been successfully writing a more literary kind of gothic novel. Some have been more successful than others -- "The Lake of Dead Languages," for example made for very riveting reading than "The Seduction of Water" and "The Drowning Tree." Her latest offering, "The Ghost Orchid" lies somewhere in-between -- the novel is divided into two subplots, a modern day one, which (unfortunately) takes a while to unfold, and one that takes place in 1893, which is really taut and suspenseful. The trouble (for me) lay in my desire to skim through the modern day subplot in order to get to the meatier chapters dealing with more interesting historical subplot!

For budding writer, Ellis Brooks, the invitation to work at the Bosco estate (a retreat for artists created by the late Aurora Latham in the later part of the 19th century) is a much desired one. Especially since the book she's working on is based on the tragic events that took place at the estate when medium, Corinth Blackwell, was invited by the Lathams to conduct a series of seances. The Lathams had lost three of their children to sickness, and Aurora Latham (the lady of the house) is obsessed with the thought of "contacting" her dead children. What led up to the sad course of events has always been conjecture, but the end result was that Corinth and her lover, Thomas Quinn, abruptly left the estate one night, taking with them Aurora Latham's sole surviving daughter, 10 year old Alice. What happened to the three after that, no one knows, and Ellis has decided to base her first novel on the incident. Unfortunately, the estate is not providing the inspiration she had hoped it would. Strange dreams and the lure of the lush, overgrown and crumbling gardens that Aurora Latham had created, is distracting her and the other writers at the estate as well. But it is only when the group makes a startling and gruesome discovery that they realise how menacing the atmosphere at the retreat really is. Resolved to discover the secrets that the Bosco estate holds, Ellis and the others begin to investigate, hoping that once the truth is revealed, the estate will be exorcised once and for all...

As I've already noted, "The Ghost Orchid" revolves around two subplots: the modern day subplot involving the writers at the Bosco estate and their investigations as to what happened when Corinth Blackwell came to the Bosco estate in 1893, while
the other subplot revolves around the actual events of 1893 (though I got the sneaking suspicion that they actually may have been chapters from Ellis' book). The modern day subplot unfolds a little slowly and is not very suspenseful for a little more than half of it. However, impatient though I was towards this slow unfolding, at work I discovered was the author's cleverness at building up the level of suspense and tension. Especially since this subplot was juxtaposed with the "historical" one, which was a much more riveting and openly suspenseful one. Mesmerising and enthralling, "The Ghost Orchid" is the kind of book that begs to be finished in one go (even if the ending was full of coincidences that almost beggared belief). Complete with vivid, colourful and lush descriptions of the estate and garden, some wonderfully realised characters, and a brilliant prose style, may not be Carol Goodman's best offering, but it certainly was a very absorbing one.