Staff Pick
Touching on one of today's hot-button topics, pedophilic priests, Faith is an exercise in rollercoaster emotions. This story explores the heart-rending situation of Father Art Breen, who finds himself accused of sexually abusing a young boy in his church. Set against the backdrop of multiple accusations in one city, the aura of hysteria is palpable. This is not, however, your typical drama-laden movie-of-the-week in book form. I came to this book with certain expectations, yet it went in a completely different direction than I anticipated. Motivations and actions are not always what they seem, and there is much here that was unexpected. Haigh always seems to have some twist up her sleeve, indicating what a great storyteller she is. Her characters feel like real people, and her prose is absolutely beautiful. My bet is that you won't be able to put this one down. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
It is the spring of 2002 and a perfect storm has hit Boston. Across the city's archdiocese, trusted priests have been accused of the worst possible betrayal of the souls in their care. In
Faith, Jennifer Haigh explores the fallout for one devout family, the McGanns.
Estranged for years from her difficult and demanding relatives, Sheila McGann has remained close to her older brother Art, the popular, dynamic pastor of a large suburban parish. When Art finds himself at the center of the maelstrom, Sheila returns to Boston, ready to fight for him and his reputation. What she discovers is more complicated than she imagined. Her strict, lace-curtain-Irish mother is living in a state of angry denial. Sheila's younger brother Mike, to her horror, has already convicted his brother in his heart. But most disturbing of all is Art himself, who persistently dodges Sheila's questions and refuses to defend himself.
As the scandal forces long-buried secrets to surface, Faith explores the corrosive consequences of one family's history of silence—and the resilience its members ultimately find in forgiveness. Throughout, Haigh demonstrates how the truth can shatter our deepest beliefs—and restore them. A gripping, suspenseful tale of one woman's quest for the truth, Faith is a haunting meditation on loyalty and family, doubt and belief. Elegantly crafted, sharply observed, this is Jennifer Haigh's most ambitious novel to date.
Review
"Luminous....The novel has the magnetic, page-turning quality of a detective thriller, but the clues here lead not to objective proof but to insight into a family both vividly specific and astonishingly universal....Wise." O magazine
Review
"With an exquisite sense of drama and mystery, Haigh delivers a taut, well-crafted tale....Indelibly rendered characters, suspenseful pacing, and fearless but sensitive handling of a controversial subject will make this a must-read for book discussion groups." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"Haigh's fourth novel draws you in....You'll be hypnotized until you know where it stops." Self
Review
"Haigh deals with complex moral issues in subtle ways, and her narrative is beautifully, sometimes achingly poignant." Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Review
“Both riveting and profound. . . . An incredibly suspenseful novel.” Washington Post
Review
“Expertly wrought. . . . Ms. Haigh, a subtle, serious novelist who happens to have a flair for capturing troubled family dynamics, never allows FAITH to become predictable. . . . Gripping. . . . Substantial.” New York Times
Review
“A masterpiece of tension and tenderness.” More magazine
Review
“FAITH is so emotionally rich, and its story so deftly delivered, that were absorbed.” Wall Street Journal
Synopsis
When Sheila McGann sets out to redeem her disgraced brother, a once-beloved Catholic priest in suburban Boston, her quest will force her to confront cataclysmic truths about her fractured Irish-American family, her beliefs, and, ultimately, herself. Award-winning author Jennifer Haigh follows her critically acclaimed novels Mrs. Kimble and The Condition with a captivating, vividly rendered portrait of fraying family ties, and the trials of belief and devotion, in Faith.
Synopsis
"[Haigh is] an expertnatural storyteller with an acute sense of her characters' humanity." —NewYork Times
"We have the intriguing possibility that the nextgreat American author is already in print." —Fort Worth Star-Telegram
When Sheila McGann setsout to redeem her disgraced brother, a once-beloved Catholic priest in suburbanBoston, her quest will force her to confront cataclysmic truths about herfractured Irish-American family, her beliefs, and, ultimately, herself.Award-winning author Jennifer Haigh follows hercritically acclaimed novels Mrs. Kimbleand The Condition with a captivating,vividly rendered portrait of fraying family ties, and the trials of belief anddevotion, in Faith.
About the Author
Jennifer Haigh is the author of the short story collection News From Heaven and four critically acclaimed novels: Faith, The Condition, Baker Towers and Mrs. Kimble. Her books have won both the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction and the PEN/L.L. Winship Award for work by a New England writer. Her short fiction has been published widely, in The Atlantic, Granta, The Best American Short Stories 2012, and many other publications. She lives in the Boston area.