Ghosts of Harvard

A Novel

By: Francesca Serritella

Narrated by: Karissa Vacker

TEEN VOGUE BOOK CLUB PICK • A Harvard freshman becomes obsessed with her schizophrenic brother’s suicide. Then she starts hearing voices.

“A rich, intricately plotted thriller . . . Serritella, who is a Harvard grad herself, writes about the campus with an insider’s savvy.”—Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post

“Every time I thought I knew where Ghosts of Harvard was heading, I turned out to be wrong. Part mystery, part ghost story, part psychological thriller, this novel is all entertainment.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult

Cadence Archer arrives on Harvard’s campus desperate to understand why her brother, Eric, a genius who developed paranoid schizophrenia took his own life there the year before. Losing Eric has left a black hole in Cady’s life, and while her decision to follow in her brother’s footsteps threatens to break her family apart, she is haunted by questions of what she might have missed. And there’s only one place to find answers.

As Cady struggles under the enormous pressure at Harvard, she investigates her brother’s final year, armed only with a blue notebook of Eric’s cryptic scribblings. She knew he had been struggling with paranoia, delusions, and illusory enemies—but what tipped him over the edge? Voices fill her head, seemingly belonging to three ghosts who passed through the university in life, or death, and whose voices, dreams, and terrors still echo the halls. Among them is a person whose name has been buried for centuries, and another whose name mankind will never forget.

Does she share Eric’s illness, or is she tapping into something else? Cady doesn’t know how or why these ghosts are contacting her, but as she is drawn deeper into their worlds, she believes they’re moving her closer to the truth about Eric, even as keeping them secret isolates her further. Will listening to these voices lead her to the one voice she craves—her brother’s—or will she follow them down a path to her own destruction?

Enjoyed. 3.5 stars.

Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish characters apart, due to narration voice difficulties. Otherwise I enjoyed the novel. I do like the tranquility of the narrators voice.

Excellent first novel!

This engaging novel has something for everyone- family secrets, history, ghosts, and love. And a few other things I won’t mention (because I don’t want to spoil it)! This is a fantastic book written by a talented young writer.

Wow! A compelling story right up to the end!!!

I highly recommend this book! Lots of surprises and a very satisfying read. I loved the author's notes at the end too!

Fabulous book

This was one of most enjoyable books I have ever read (actually listened to). Karissa Vacker was simply superb in the reading of the book.

I couldn’t put it down

Didn’t know what to expect. But it is an interestingly woven story of family struggles, loyalty and forgiveness. Combined with mystery and self discovery.

narration is perfect

To enjoy “Ghosts of Harvard” by Francesca Serritella, one must have an interest in spirits aka ghosts. I was a huge fan of the TV series “Ghost Whisperer” and this is in the same vein. Basically, it’s not realistic fiction; beyond the ghost factor, we have a plucky Harvard Freshman who sleuths her way, by ignoring classes and classwork. Perhaps the setting should have been a third-rate university. However, there is a reason that author Serritella chose Harvard to tell her tale, and she provides that information in her Author’s Note.

Basically, Cady, our intrepid protagonist, enrolls in Harvard to find out why her beloved schizophrenic brother, Eric, killed himself. Eric was a genius but was a noncompliant patient with a history of going off his medications. Cady is determined to discover what led Eric to commit suicide.

While on her quest, Cady begins to hear voices in her mind. These voices are spirits who are trapped in Harvard. Each spirit either went to school at Harvard or worked there. Serritella has political reasons to use her spirits.

In a short period, Cady unravels some secrets of her brother. She follows clues she unearthed. It’s preposterous that Cady accomplished all that she did in about a month’s time, while still attending school. Again, it’s not realistic fiction.

What Serritella does well is show how mental illness impacts a family. Add suicide to that illness, and families fall apart. Also, I’m a huge fan of Author’s Notes and she does a great job explaining her use of the ghosts.

This story is billed as a thriller, which it does build up to be at the last third of the story. There were a couple of obvious clues that Cady missed; however, Serritella threw in a couple of last-minute plot twists that made the read interesting.

It’s a “so-so” read. I cannot say I’d recommend it. I listened to the audio of the story, performed by Karissa Vacker. Vacker is fantastic with her wide range of voices.

Amazing Book!

I could not put this book down! Well, except when I had to. This book is well worth your time and money!

excellent book. cannot wait for the author's next

loved it. twists in.plots compelling. excellent characters. all around great book. looking forward to this author's next book.

Great

Very good- before it was done I was looking to see if there is a next book 📚

this book could have been a lot better.

the actual story was not bad tho far fetched. still why the ghosts? I think this book could be better with out them.

also the way everything came together at the end was too much.

but I did enjoy the book enough to read the entire story. I will not read it again tho.

kadie was obscessed (not bad or not good) with her brother's death but I really did not know much else about her.

it was way too long.

the reader was great!