The Ghost Orchid

By: Carol Goodman

Narrated by: Jen Taylor

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

For more than 100 years, creative souls have traveled to the Bosco estate to live and work under its captivating spell. Novelist Ellis Brooks is writing a book based on the dark events that took place during the summer of 1893. All she knows is that the wealthy Milo Latham brought in a psychic medium to help his wife contact their three dead children - only to have the seance turn deadly and his remaining child abducted. 

As Ellis uncovers the Latham family's dark secrets, a series of bizarre accidents occurs. The lines between past and present, living and dead blur, until the tangled truth threatens to ensnare all it touches.

©2006 Carol Goodman (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Solidly okay

It wasn’t a bad book, but I found it a bit hard to follow. I think the problem is that it takes awhile for the story to pick up. There are a ton of characters, and I found it hard to stay focused enough to learn all of the different characters before the book started to get interesting. I found myself having to go back because I had stopped paying attention many times throughout the book. The story is interesting once it gets going, it just seems like the first half of the book is painfully slow.

Rediscovering a favorite

When I saw this in the audible library I could not resist the opportunity to revisit the story that began my absolute love affair with Carol Goodman. July feels a long time to wait for her next scheduled publication, so, I figured, why not? I rarely re-read books, but it has been over a decade and I was additionally curious about the audio version. I was only very slightly nervous that the story wouldn't hold up to my shining memory of it. It's been ages since I've read anything but Goodman's very newest works, maybe this earlier novel had been rose colored by my more recent experiences. I need not have worried, the story, the charcters and the atmospheric sence of place which is my favorite hallmark of Goodman's works were just as charming and engaging as I remembered. The narrator did an excellent job of differentiating charcter voices without coming off as over done and corny, which is the #1 thing that can knock me out of an audiobook and ruin the telling for me. If you are a Carol Goodman fan, return to this this one and it will not dissipoint, and if you are new to the Author's works and a fan of atmospheric mysteries, are you ever in for a treat.

Read this One

I read The Ghost Orchid years ago and loved the tight, complicated tapestry of story....But listening to it was at times an almost painful experience. I ought to say that reader Jen Taylor's work is exemplary. This is just one of those stories that ought to remain between the reader and the writer with no one between.

couldnt get into it

struggled to finish. confusing convoluted. thin characters that i could not care about. dont waste your time

dragged on....could not finish last 2 hours .

I struggled to finish...too long. Did not finish, tried several times. Hard to follow overall stories.

good story

i enjoyed the story, but when they go back and forth between time periods with so many characters, it gets a little confusing, when listening to the audio book. but i enjoyed it

Would have been a better read

Somebody was smoking some thing when they recorded this because the sound was really bad

Contrived and complicated

I had high hopes going into this book, but was quickly disappointed. I couldn't get into the story but stuck with it long after I would have given up on other books. I mean, how can you go wrong with writers working in a haunted house with a spiritualist as one of the guests and native american lore as your inspiration??? Oh boy, this story just failed to live up to what it could have become. The story was so complex with limp characters. And the writing depicting the fantastical things that happened to the characters was just silly. In one scene the rose petals that fell in winter spelled out the name of who the heroine was supposed to think of. I would have thought with her psychic abilities, the ghosts wouldn't have to literally, spell it out for her... of course this is just one persons opinion. Happy Listening if you choose to get it!

Convoluted, Interesting, Requires Attention

This story reminded me of one of my favorite books from years ago: The Magus, by John Fowles.
It was a complex listen, but a mystery worth listening to.

A Pleasant Find!

YES! Very lyrical and eerie! Masterfully written folk song in the form of a novel.