Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella

I cannot tell a lie – I love a good ghost story. While this has ghosts in it, it’s not really a ghost story. I loved it anyway. 

Disclaimer – I read this in October, so forgive me if I’m a little hazy on some of the details.

So, what’s it all about?

Cady Archer is going to Harvard. She has worked hard to earn her place there, but she is going to investigate the suicide of her paranoid schizophrenic brother Eric, as she believes there is more to his death than previously divulged. But her choice has divided her family. Her mother refuses to talk to her, fearing that she may lose her only remaining child, while her father chooses to support her. Cady suffers through some of the rotten undercurrents of this bastion of academia – seniors preying on freshmen, academic rivalries and so forth – but when she starts to hear voices, her fears that she too shares her brother’s schizophrenia send her on a downward spiral.

Is it any good?

Absolutely. A many-threaded plot that ties together to showcase Cady spiralling out of control. She discovers a whole life she never knew her brother and best friend had. Why did he never mention his friends at Harvard? Why did he give up his potential award-winning research (into time and space!!)? Was there more to his relationship with his mentor than meets the eye? Then there are Cady’s own problems. She bears the weight of her brother’s death, well-known on campus, and is her investigation into his suicide exacerbating her own potential schizophrenia, or is this just a matter of course? To be fair, there are a couple of silly bits, including one of the major plot points, and some of the characters are bordering on stereotypes. Another is left unanswered, which I personally liked, but I know some people find such things abhorrent. To sum up, Cady is very engaging, as is her relationship with her family and the love of her brother, and this more than anything else keeps the story moving. Her fear of following in Eric’s footsteps drives the plot, keeping readers engaged throughout, to a slightly odd but ultimately satisfying whole.

Verdict

A sometimes harrowing and ultimately satisfying mystery.

• Format: Hardcover
• Obtained from: Library (support your public library people)
• Print length: 480 pages (hc)
• Publisher: Random House
• ISBN: 9780525510369