Coram House by Bailey Seybolt

 

My thoughts

Author's note worth reading:

While Coram House is a work of fiction, the story owes a debt to the real history of St. Joseph's Orphanage in Burlington, Vermont. Between 1854 and 1974, more than thirteen thousand children passed through its doors. They were abused and silenced by the people who were supposed to protect them. The legacy of orphanages and residential schools has proven that power lies in controlling what is remembered and what is forgotten. May we remember....

"I'll never understand why orphans are abused. What is it about these children that is so unlovable. They certainly did not ask to be abandoned or left behind. They should be cherished."

This is a story about a woman, Alex Kelley,  who is hired to ghost write a book about an orphanage. She uncovers a lot of things but this story does not go into great detail about the abuse that happened at Coram House. It's there but not in such detail that this book is hard to read. You know what happened by the testimonies of the grown kids who lived it. Who witnessed it. Who survived...

Alex is hired by Stedsan to ghost write a book about Coram House. She goes to Vermont to do this job. Alex is still grieving the loss of her husband Adam. He was the love of her life and when he got sick and died she was devastated. 

Alex uncovers a lot while researching for this book. She learns about the nuns and the pedopile priest. She gets a good sense of several of the survivors who live in this town. Seems there are quite a few who never left. But when people start being murdered and Alex finds them she has to wonder if she's next. What is someone trying to hide? 

This is a good debut novel. I liked most of the characters. Not the abusive ones of course but they were not front and center in this story. The book is well written and keeps you on your toes. I didn't figure out who the killer was until about two thirds of the way in. I was still shocked though. I missed a few details I guess. 

I'll always wonder how people who claim to be christian can abuse these children who are left. How can anyone do such horrible things then lay down and sleep at night. I have bad dreams just hearing about the children in life who are abandoned. It makes no sense. 

Well done. Well written. A lot went into this book and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #Atria,  for this ARC. 

About

Sharp Objects meets I Have Some Questions for You in this haunting novel—inspired by a true story—about a crime writer who risks everything as she investigates the mystery of two deaths, decades apart, at a crumbling Vermont orphanage.

On a blistering summer day in 1968, nine-year-old Tommy vanishes without a trace from Coram House, an orphanage on the shores of Lake Champlain. Some say a nun drowned him, others say he ran away. Or maybe he never existed. Fifty years later, his disappearance is still unsolved.

Struggling true crime writer Alex Kelley needs a fresh start. When she’s asked to ghostwrite a book about the orphanage—and the abuses that occurred there—she packs up her belongings and moves to wintry Burlington, Vermont.

As Alex tries to untangle the conflicting stories surrounding Tommy’s disappearance, her investigation takes a chilling turn when she discovers a woman’s body in the lake. Alex is convinced the death is connected to Coram House’s dark past, even if local police officer Russell Parker thinks she’s just desperate for a career-saving story. As the body count rises, Alex must prove that the key to finding the killer lies in Tommy’s murder, or risk becoming the next victim.

Drawing inspiration from the real-life stories of St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Coram House “reckons with both the long aftermath of violence and the hazards of writing true crime. It is an eerie, suspenseful mystery, sure to find readers among fans of Tana French” (Flynn Berry, author of Northern Spy).