Ghosts of the Orphanage

A Story of Mysterious Deaths, a Conspiracy of Silence, and a Search for Justice

By: Christine Kenneally

Narrated by: Jodie Harris

The shocking secret history of twentieth-century orphanages—which for decades hid violence, abuse, and deaths within their walls

For much of the twentieth century, a series of terrible events—abuse, both physical and psychological, and even deaths—took places inside orphanages. The survivors have been trying to tell their astonishing stories for a long time, but disbelief, secrecy, and trauma have kept them from breaking through. For ten years, Christine Kenneally has been on a quest to uncover the harrowing truth.

Centering her story on St. Joseph’s, a Catholic orphanage in Vermont, Kenneally has written a stunning account of a series of crimes and abuses. But her work is not confined to one place. Following clues that take her into the darkened corners of several institutions across the globe, she finds a trail of terrifying stories and a courageous group of survivors who are seeking justice. Ghosts of the Orphanage is an incredible true crime story and a reckoning with a past that has stayed buried for too long, with tragic consequences.

Critic reviews

“Sometimes the world’s secrets have to wait for the right person to turn up to reveal them. Across ten years of hard and painful investigation, Christine Kenneally discovered, explored, and here reports on a great sink of human misery visited upon unprotected children by the very people who were honored for caring for them. It’s a chilling book, but a brave and important one—and a gripping read. It bears comparison to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago.”—Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb and A Hole in the World

“In the orphanages Kenneally investigates, sanctimonious, seemingly pious adults physically, emotionally, and sexually abused children, imagining that the children exposed to their shameful barbarism would forget the ‘morally upright’ adults’ horrific crimes. A cautionary tale about the long-term impact of adults’ cruelty to children—how perpetrators’ brutality, even when half-forgotten—nonetheless haunts victims with bodily pain, mysterious fears, and eventually, maybe, powerful understanding.”—Jessica Stern, senior fellow, Harvard School of Public Health

“Kenneally has pulled off an astonishing feat in Ghosts of the Orphanage. She has produced a haunting, literary page-turner that is also a work of deep and urgent reportage. The reporting is tenacious and jaw dropping, but it is the characters who will stay with you long after the book is done.”—Jessica Garrison, author of The Devil’s Harvest

“Kenneally… paints a beyond disturbing picture of human cruelty in this shocking exposé of decades of abuse of children housed in orphanages across multiple countries in much of the 20th century…This harrowing true crime story is essential, if deeply difficult, reading.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A powerful work of sociological investigation and literary journalism.” —Kirkus Reviews

Unflinching

Somehow the author manages to weave an incredibly complex history into an engaging story -- without stridency, axe-grinding, or poignancy. The author is simultaneously discreet and blunt. The survivors are treated with respect, even as their complicated lives are plainly described. The accused are afforded appropriate linguistics but the author is utterly direct in standing up to individuals and institutions. This book proclaims into being a model of the perseverance, courage, skill, and discipline needed to respond to evil without looking away. I was impressed by how many times my mind tried to take off-ramps as i progressed through the book -- how many comforting rationalizations I seem to have learned. Kenneally tenaciously kept me on track. And she resisted the siren editorial call of a conciliatory ending that might have sold a few more books. This is not a book that frees from responsibility the church that is mudsplashed by history. Absolutely unflinching. And needed.

Had No Idea

I had absolutely no idea that orphanages were this pervasive in the 20th century and that so many of them were run by the Catholic church; I purchased this book without even realizing that that was the main premise. Extremely informative, heartbreaking, extensive research, humanizing, etc.

The author doesn’t go here, but I made a lot of comparisons with the WWII Concentration Camps that were operating at some of the same time periods—we are horrified by those, but I’d NEVER heard of these orphanages. No gas chambers, but similar dehumanization. Same terror. Same use of numbers instead of names. Same human medical experiments. Same physical, mental, and sexual abuse—if not more. Same coverups. It’s really a lot to digest. Highly recommended.

Different perspectives of a very familiar story

This book was very personal to me as my father and part of his story is mentioned in the book. The author has a very vivid method of writing. The story of the children in these orphanages is one that needed to be told. This is done really well. The author covers a span of almost 100 years of abuse and does it through the lens of all those involved.

Important Reporting

The writing is great.
Narrator gets screamy/preachy and exaggerated.
Still listen for the story though.

Lord Heal your Children!

A story that needs to be told for SO MANY! My Mom spent time in this place, this book explains a lot! Blessings to all brave enough to bring it to light! Healing Hugs to all the victims and those who have helped them along the way!! Romans 12:19