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Ophelia's Gold

Ophelia's Gold

By: Susan Smith Nash
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Ophelia's Gold is a haunting literary thriller that interweaves love, madness, and the relentless pursuit of treasure across landscapes ranging from the jungles of Vietnam-era Laos to the karst caves of Oklahoma and the deserts of California. At its heart is Ophelia, a woman battling seizure disorder and psychological demons, who becomes entangled once more with her ex-husband Stanton Harville as they attempt to solve the mystery that destroyed his father—a Vietnam pilot who smuggled a priceless jade statue of the goddess Tara from a secret Buddhist temple called "God's Hostage." As Ophelia and Stanton hunt for the lost artifacts through caves, abandoned mines, and the strange religious compound of the Yahweh Brethren, they confront their own captivity: to trauma, to obsessive love, and to the curses—real or imagined—that bind them. With echoes of treasure-hunting fathers, tragic first loves, and the shadow of South American intrigue, the novel asks whether redemption can be found in returning what was stolen, or whether love itself is the most dangerous form of captivity.

Susan Smith Nash 2000 - 2026 Art Drama & Plays Literary History & Criticism
Episodes
  • Ophelia's Gold: Chapter 32 - The Forgotten Soldier

    Ophelia's Gold: Chapter 32 - The Forgotten Soldier
    Mar 8 2026

    Captain Harville, now declared MIA, wraps his beloved jade Tara in batik cloth in his bamboo hut. Hallucinations blend with memories—his son's birth, his dying comrade—as Tara's shadow beckons him into madness. He is "truly lost."
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    7 mins
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