
The Ghost Clause
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.16
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jim Meskimen
-
By:
-
Howard Norman
About this listen
National Book Award Finalist Howard Norman delivers another provocative, haunting novel, this time set in a Vermont village and featuring a missing child, a newly married private detective, and a highly relatable ghost.
Simon Inescort is no longer bodily present in his marriage. It's been several months since he keeled over the rail of a Nova Scotia-bound ferry, a massive heart attack to blame. Simon's widow, Lorca Pell, has sold their farmhouse to newlyweds Zachary and Muriel - after revealing that the deed contains a "ghost clause", an actual legal clause, not unheard of in Vermont, allowing for reimbursement if a recently purchased home turns out to be haunted.
In fact, Simon finds himself still at home: "Every waking moment, I'm astonished I have any consciousness... What am I to call myself now, a revenant?" He spends time replaying his marriage in his own mind, as if in poignant reel-to-reel, while also engaging in occasionally intimate observation of the new homeowners. But soon the crisis of a missing child, a local 11-year-old, threatens the tenuous domestic equilibrium, as the weight of the case falls to Zachary, a rookie private detective with the Green Mountain Agency.
The Ghost Clause is a heartrending, affirming portrait of two marriages - one in its afterlife, one new and erotically charged - and of the Vermont village life that sustains and remakes them.
©2019 Howard Norman (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
My Darling Detective
- By: Howard Norman
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jacob Rigolet - a soon-to-be former assistant to a wealthy art collector - looks up from his seat at an auction to see his mother, the former head librarian at the Halifax Free Library, walking almost casually up the aisle. Before a stunned audience, she flings an open jar of black ink at master photographer Robert Capa's Death on a Leipzig Balcony. What's more, Jacob's police detective fiancée, Martha Crauchet, is assigned to the ensuing interrogation.
-
-
For Driving to the Beach
- By David on 08-20-17
By: Howard Norman
-
Inheritance
- The Lost Bride Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Nora Roberts
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Nora Roberts
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graphic designer Sonya MacTavish is stunned to learn that her late father had a twin he never knew about—and that her newly discovered uncle, Collin Poole, has left her almost everything he owned, including a majestic Victorian house on the Maine coast, which the will stipulates she must live in for at least three years. Her engagement recently broken, she sets off to find out why the boys were separated at birth—and why it was all kept secret until a genealogy website brought it to light.
-
-
I hate stories handled this way.
- By MJ Family on 11-25-23
By: Nora Roberts
-
28 Summers
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Mallory Blessing's son, Link, receives deathbed instructions from his mother to call a number on a slip of paper in her desk drawer, he's not sure what to expect. But he certainly does not expect Jake McCloud to answer. It's the late spring of 2020 and Jake's wife, Ursula DeGournsey, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Presidential election. There must be a mistake, Link thinks. How do Mallory and Jake know each other?
-
-
Loved this Book
- By Forrest on 06-18-20
By: Elin Hilderbrand
-
A Storm of Infinite Beauty
- A Novel
- By: Julianne MacLean
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scarlett Fontaine is a true Hollywood legend—a singer, actress, and beloved fashion icon. But Scarlett dies tragically at just thirty-six years old, leaving behind no children. Or so the story goes… Gwen Hollingsworth is the curator at a museum dedicated to Scarlett’s life. She’s also sole heir to Scarlett’s fortune as a descendant of the star. But all is not well in Gwen’s world. She’s dealing with a messy marital separation and is struggling to move forward.
-
-
Secrets of a loved one
- By Kindle Customer on 02-13-24
By: Julianne MacLean
-
The Authenticity Project
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It’s run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves - and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica’s Café.
-
-
Sweet, easy listen
- By Benhandel on 04-23-20
By: Clare Pooley
-
Green Card
- By: Elizabeth Adams
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Grace
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Harper has it all: Looks, money, power. There’s just one tiny problem - he’s about to be deported. He needs a green card. Fast. An American wife is the easiest way to get one. But where will he find a woman to marry him on such short notice? Elizabeth Barrett is a full-time student, part-time dog walker, and weekend tutor. With a roommate who just ran out on her and neck deep in tuition payments, she needs money. Now. Harper just might make her an offer she can’t refuse.
-
-
So sorry
- By lac127 on 04-01-22
By: Elizabeth Adams
-
My Darling Detective
- By: Howard Norman
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jacob Rigolet - a soon-to-be former assistant to a wealthy art collector - looks up from his seat at an auction to see his mother, the former head librarian at the Halifax Free Library, walking almost casually up the aisle. Before a stunned audience, she flings an open jar of black ink at master photographer Robert Capa's Death on a Leipzig Balcony. What's more, Jacob's police detective fiancée, Martha Crauchet, is assigned to the ensuing interrogation.
-
-
For Driving to the Beach
- By David on 08-20-17
By: Howard Norman
-
Inheritance
- The Lost Bride Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Nora Roberts
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Nora Roberts
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graphic designer Sonya MacTavish is stunned to learn that her late father had a twin he never knew about—and that her newly discovered uncle, Collin Poole, has left her almost everything he owned, including a majestic Victorian house on the Maine coast, which the will stipulates she must live in for at least three years. Her engagement recently broken, she sets off to find out why the boys were separated at birth—and why it was all kept secret until a genealogy website brought it to light.
-
-
I hate stories handled this way.
- By MJ Family on 11-25-23
By: Nora Roberts
-
28 Summers
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Mallory Blessing's son, Link, receives deathbed instructions from his mother to call a number on a slip of paper in her desk drawer, he's not sure what to expect. But he certainly does not expect Jake McCloud to answer. It's the late spring of 2020 and Jake's wife, Ursula DeGournsey, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Presidential election. There must be a mistake, Link thinks. How do Mallory and Jake know each other?
-
-
Loved this Book
- By Forrest on 06-18-20
By: Elin Hilderbrand
-
A Storm of Infinite Beauty
- A Novel
- By: Julianne MacLean
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scarlett Fontaine is a true Hollywood legend—a singer, actress, and beloved fashion icon. But Scarlett dies tragically at just thirty-six years old, leaving behind no children. Or so the story goes… Gwen Hollingsworth is the curator at a museum dedicated to Scarlett’s life. She’s also sole heir to Scarlett’s fortune as a descendant of the star. But all is not well in Gwen’s world. She’s dealing with a messy marital separation and is struggling to move forward.
-
-
Secrets of a loved one
- By Kindle Customer on 02-13-24
By: Julianne MacLean
-
The Authenticity Project
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It’s run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves - and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica’s Café.
-
-
Sweet, easy listen
- By Benhandel on 04-23-20
By: Clare Pooley
-
Green Card
- By: Elizabeth Adams
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Grace
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Harper has it all: Looks, money, power. There’s just one tiny problem - he’s about to be deported. He needs a green card. Fast. An American wife is the easiest way to get one. But where will he find a woman to marry him on such short notice? Elizabeth Barrett is a full-time student, part-time dog walker, and weekend tutor. With a roommate who just ran out on her and neck deep in tuition payments, she needs money. Now. Harper just might make her an offer she can’t refuse.
-
-
So sorry
- By lac127 on 04-01-22
By: Elizabeth Adams
-
Skeletons in the Attic
- A Marketville Mystery, Volume 1
- By: Judy Penz Sheluk
- Narrated by: Claira Jordyn
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Calamity (Callie) Barnstable isn't surprised to learn she's the sole beneficiary of her late father's estate, though she is shocked to discover she has inherited a house in the town of Marketville - a house she didn't know existed. However, there are conditions attached to Callie's inheritance: she must move to Marketville, live in the house, and solve her mother's murder. Callie's not keen on dredging up a 30-year-old mystery.
-
-
Good Narrator makes the Book worthwhile
- By cosmitron on 08-03-18
By: Judy Penz Sheluk
-
Bait and Witch
- Witch Way Librarian Mystery Series, Book 1
- By: Angela M. Sanders
- Narrated by: Rebecca Mitchell
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Josie Way loved working among the Library of Congress' leather-scented stacks - until she uncovered corruption and made herself a target. As Wilfred, Oregon's new librarian, Josie can stay undercover until the case goes to court. But life in this little town isn't as subdued as she expected. The library, housed in a Victorian mansion, is slated to be bulldozed. Still digesting the news that her safe haven is about to become scrap lumber, Josie discovers a body in the woods....
-
-
Bait & Witch
- By J@YD944 on 05-18-21
-
Ladder of Years
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Baltimore Woman Disappears During Family Vacation." The headlines are all the same: Beloved mother and wife Delia Grinstead was last seen strolling down the Delaware shore, wearing only a bathing suit and carrying a beach tote with $500 tucked inside. To the best of her family's knowledge, she has disappeared without a trace. But Delia didn't disappear. She ran.
-
-
Terrific book, outstanding narration.
- By windymoon on 08-28-21
By: Anne Tyler
-
Musical Chairs
- A Novel
- By: Amy Poeppel
- Narrated by: Amanda Carlin, Matthew Lloyd Davies, Gibson Frazier, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bridget and Will have the kind of relationship that people envy: They’re loving, compatible, and completely devoted to each other. The fact that they’re strictly friends seems to get lost on nearly everyone. For three decades, they’ve nurtured their baby, the Forsyth Trio - a chamber group they created as students with their Juilliard classmate Gavin Glantz. In the intervening years, Gavin has gone on to become one of the classical music world’s reigning stars, while Bridget and Will have learned to embrace the warm reviews and smaller venues that accompany modest success.
-
-
Enjoyable, intriguing, well-crafted
- By Jolie Blonde on 08-10-20
By: Amy Poeppel
-
A Town Called Solace
- By: Mary Lawson
- Narrated by: Maggie Huculak, Tajja Isen, Ian Lake
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Town Called Solace, the brilliant and emotionally radiant new novel from Mary Lawson, her first in nearly a decade, opens on a family in crisis. Sixteen-year-old Rose is missing. Angry and rebellious, she had a row with her mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Left behind is seven-year-old Clara, Rose’s adoring little sister. Isolated by her parents’ efforts to protect her from the truth, Clara is bewildered and distraught.
-
-
beautiful story
- By Barbara S on 07-06-21
By: Mary Lawson
-
Magnolia Nights
- By: Ashley Farley
- Narrated by: Steven Menasche, Rachel Jacobs, Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ellie Pringle has spent endless hours and countless dollars working with a therapist to remember the lost years of her childhood. She's baffled and more than a little intrigued when the grandmother she hasn't seen in 34 years dies and leaves her a fortune. The time has come to face her past in person. Still reeling from a recent breakup of a long-term relationship, and with nothing to keep her in San Francisco, Ellie packs her meager belongings and boards a plane for the South Carolina Lowcountry.
-
-
Magnolia Nights
- By Kindle Customer on 01-18-19
By: Ashley Farley
-
What to Do When Someone Dies
- A Novel
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ellie Falkner’s world has been destroyed. Her husband, Greg, died in a car crash - and he wasn’t alone. In the passenger seat was the body of Milena Livingstone, a woman Ellie’s never heard of. But Ellie refuses to leap to the obvious conclusion, despite the whispers and suspicions of those around her. Maybe it’s the grief, but Ellie has to find out who this woman was - and prove Greg wasn’t having an affair. And soon she is chillingly certain their deaths were no accident.
-
-
Flops around like a dead fish
- By cindy on 10-28-21
By: Nicci French
-
Devlin’s Light
- The Enright Family Series, Book 1
- By: Mariah Stewart
- Narrated by: Erica Sullivan
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Though India Devlin left her hometown to pursue a brilliant career as a criminal prosecutor, she has always loved historic Devlin’s Light, visiting as often as her busy schedule permits. But when her brother is found murdered on the steps of the lighthouse - the town’s namesake - she returns to uncover who killed Ry. When her brother’s good friend, Nick Enright, offers to help in her investigation, India accepts - after all, he’s the one who found Ry that night, and heard his mysterious last words.
-
-
New Family
- By Sadie May on 07-22-24
By: Mariah Stewart
-
Tea and Treachery
- Tea by the Sea Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Vicki Delany
- Narrated by: Sandy Rustin
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the proud proprietor and head pastry chef of Tea by the Sea, a traditional English tearoom on the picturesque bluffs of Cape Cod, Roberts has her hands full, often literally. But nothing keeps her busier than steering her sassy grandmother, Rose, away from trouble. Rose operates the grand old Victorian B & B adjacent to Lily’s tea shop...for now. An aggressive real estate developer, Jack Ford, is pushing hard to rezone nearby land, with an eye toward building a sprawling golf resort, which would drive Rose and Lily out of business.
-
-
Negative
- By Fan from Dallas on 11-06-21
By: Vicki Delany
-
The Hotel Neversink
- By: Adam O'Fallon Price
- Narrated by: Steven Jay Cohen
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thirty-one years after workers first broke ground, the magnificent Hotel Neversink in the Catskills finally opens to the public. Then a young boy disappears. This mysterious vanishing - and the ones that follow - will brand the lives of three generations. At the root of it all is Asher Sikorsky, the ambitious and ruthless patriarch whose purchase of the hotel in 1931 set a haunting legacy into motion.
-
-
A Depressing Book, Depressingly Read
- By Bob P. on 05-29-21
-
Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly
- A Novel
- By: Marie Bostwick
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Esme Cahill thinks she has failed spectacularly: fired from her New York City publishing job, divorced from her husband, and possessing little more than a broken-down car and a pile of unfinished manuscripts, she drives home to Asheville at the request of her late grandmother, Adele, who had begged her, just before she died, to return to the place she grew up. There she discovers the once-charming lakeside retreat run by her family is sliding toward financial ruin.
-
-
Lacking in depth
- By Laura R Reindl on 11-11-23
By: Marie Bostwick
-
Bitter Sweet
- By: LaVyrle Spencer
- Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shattered by the loss of her husband, Maggie struggled each day to put her grief behind her. To be there for her teenaged daughter. And to face life again. When she returned to her Wisconsin hometown, she never expected to feel a spark of longing for her old high school sweetheart. Eric's marriage to a career-driven woman had left him childless and unhappy - he knew there had to be more to life than always wanting what you couldn't have. Seeing Maggie again filled him with hope. Maybe the answer to his dreams had just come to town.
-
-
Couldn’t stop listening
- By Jennifer Henry on 10-24-21
By: LaVyrle Spencer
What listeners say about The Ghost Clause
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cathy Bowman
- 04-28-22
Unexpected
what a sweet writing. The relationships so real, so natural; so.true to life. This is a new favorite.
A glimpse at life afrer loss and all that makes what we hold close in relationships. It sweetened the distance between us and those we wait to rejoin.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jennine.
- 03-22-21
Not your average ghost story.
l listened to the whole book and l think it is worthy of a listen, it builds up as the story progresses and you get to know the characters. The narration suits the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Suzanne
- 08-08-21
Too pretentious, I can't really get into it...
... though I will try again later. I think this is one I really need to concentrate on... can't just ride through while doing odd jobs...
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Linda L.
- 02-15-24
Too rambling for me
I found this story a bit all over the place. It really didn't capture my interest. Cool concept, just not a good writing style for me.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wanda DeGolier
- 10-27-21
Not a formula - unexpected - fresh
As someone who listens to a lot of audiobooks - several every week for years - this felt fresh.
It doesn’t adhere to any genre formula and therefore is not predictable. It is not super tension filled - more like a women’s fiction story - which is character / day-in-the-life driven. More of a Fried Green Tomatoes rather than a Die Hard.
The characters are likable which is a plus for me anyway. The story held my interest and had a nice ending.
I enjoyed enough to purchase other work from this author.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JPZ
- 04-06-21
Not my taste
Story dragged on. Kept listening hoping for some arc but blah, however the ending ultimately was positive
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J Alexandra Hooper
- 05-05-21
A very different ghost story
Unusual perspective, with a thought provoking storyline
The two love stories are well described... no spoiler
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Osei Xavier
- 05-09-22
I'm not quite sure what this was.
This really was just like reading someone's diary. But that someone had very little going on in their lives. There was no climax, no conclusion, no questions. The couples and their relationships were, "Fictional" meaning, unrealistic. I know zero couples that interact so flatly with each other. Zero conflict emotion, zero emotion period.
I also wasn't expecting a Poetry 101 lesson.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nanolady
- 05-09-22
Interesting
I've never read a book by this author before. and I've never read a book like this before. It just kept drawing me in and wouldn't let go.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heather
- 12-02-20
it sounds like an interesting plot
I was really interested in the potential for this to be a great story but the narrator is so dull that I found myself drifting off into other thoughts too much to get through the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!