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A review by prationality
Faithful by Janet Fox
4.0
When I first read the blurb for Faithful, I had no idea it was set in the beginning of the 20th century. Nor did the cover really illuminate this fact, as the dress's design was just ambiguous enough to be considered 'popular' now. I like it better for the fact its set in 1904 and not in the last two decades. For what I think Fox was trying to convey in the book, it needed to be set during a time when parts of the country were still more rugged pioneer then refined city-slick.
Maggie was, for all her tactless comments and sometimes 'snobbish' behavior, she was very relate-able. She grew up in the affluent and 'rich' neighborhood of Newport; she was given every privilege, every luxury, but what she wanted most was a stable family life. Some small eccentricities could be overlooked--her family's money and prestige allowed that much--but her mother went beyond the pale with her behavior, her manner. This gave Maggie a strange dichotomy of growing up. On the one hand she loved her mother, loved her spirit, but she also felt the censure of what it meant. She tried to repress anything that even remotely resembled her mother's behavior and the few times she acted out ended disastrously. She was scared, uncertain and confused.
Even as her thoughts seemed to vacillate between praying she could have that perfect debut and finding her mother, foremost in her mind was always a need for her mother. She needed her, needed closure and the fantasy that if they found her it would all be perfect if she wished for it hard enough. I felt so bad for her in those moments. She wanted so hard to believe that everything would worked out if they found her mother even while also knowing that more problems could arise because of it.
It was hard for me to judge her father adequately. He was obviously not a man who was malicious, or hurtful, or purposely sought to 'wreck' his daughter's future. On the same token he didn't understand what she really needed. He was scared that if he gave her too much freedom, she would be just like her mother. Just as uncontrollable, just as heart-breaking. Even when he tries to give her what she tells him she wants most--a triumphant return to Newport society with a respectable husband--he still doesn't quite get it. He was weak. He was a very weak man, so frightened of losing something, of wanting something best left in the past, that he was deaf to rational thought.
The friendship between Tom and Maggie was unexpected in its development. Through him Maggie grows and understands her mother better as well as herself. Because he's never lived in the society limelight with the society pressures she's always had to fight against, he understands far better what a person needs the most. He's awkward, and together they make a lot of missteps, but their understanding of each other grows steadily.
I adored Mrs. Gale, a widow professional photographer who introduces Maggie both to the artistic beauty Maggie's mother gave to her, but also the fact that an accomplished woman can be a wife and professional. Mr. Greybull was one of the most repugnant men I have ever had the misfortune to read about. As a foil to Maggie's growing uncertainty about what she wants in the future, he worked well. Kula...I'm still not certain of her motivations or behaviors. I understand why she felt the way she did, but I don't understand the maliciousness and vindictiveness she felt towards Maggie. Its one thing to envy someone's seeming better fortune, its entirely another to completely hate a person for it.
Fox does an excellent job conveying the landscape of both Newport and Yellowstone. The wonder and the excitement of the geysers, grizzleys and bison, as well as the difference between the variety of people represented in Yellowstone. Bandits, tourists, geologists, hunters (grrr Mr. Greybull), officers and servants.
The end result was both satisfying and fitting to the story. Maggie got the answers she was searching for and was able to move forward. The novel is a heart warming story of finding redemption, faith (not the religious kind) and learning to accept that knowledge can come with a price.
Maggie was, for all her tactless comments and sometimes 'snobbish' behavior, she was very relate-able. She grew up in the affluent and 'rich' neighborhood of Newport; she was given every privilege, every luxury, but what she wanted most was a stable family life. Some small eccentricities could be overlooked--her family's money and prestige allowed that much--but her mother went beyond the pale with her behavior, her manner. This gave Maggie a strange dichotomy of growing up. On the one hand she loved her mother, loved her spirit, but she also felt the censure of what it meant. She tried to repress anything that even remotely resembled her mother's behavior and the few times she acted out ended disastrously. She was scared, uncertain and confused.
Even as her thoughts seemed to vacillate between praying she could have that perfect debut and finding her mother, foremost in her mind was always a need for her mother. She needed her, needed closure and the fantasy that if they found her it would all be perfect if she wished for it hard enough. I felt so bad for her in those moments. She wanted so hard to believe that everything would worked out if they found her mother even while also knowing that more problems could arise because of it.
It was hard for me to judge her father adequately. He was obviously not a man who was malicious, or hurtful, or purposely sought to 'wreck' his daughter's future. On the same token he didn't understand what she really needed. He was scared that if he gave her too much freedom, she would be just like her mother. Just as uncontrollable, just as heart-breaking. Even when he tries to give her what she tells him she wants most--a triumphant return to Newport society with a respectable husband--he still doesn't quite get it. He was weak. He was a very weak man, so frightened of losing something, of wanting something best left in the past, that he was deaf to rational thought.
The friendship between Tom and Maggie was unexpected in its development. Through him Maggie grows and understands her mother better as well as herself. Because he's never lived in the society limelight with the society pressures she's always had to fight against, he understands far better what a person needs the most. He's awkward, and together they make a lot of missteps, but their understanding of each other grows steadily.
I adored Mrs. Gale, a widow professional photographer who introduces Maggie both to the artistic beauty Maggie's mother gave to her, but also the fact that an accomplished woman can be a wife and professional. Mr. Greybull was one of the most repugnant men I have ever had the misfortune to read about. As a foil to Maggie's growing uncertainty about what she wants in the future, he worked well. Kula...I'm still not certain of her motivations or behaviors. I understand why she felt the way she did, but I don't understand the maliciousness and vindictiveness she felt towards Maggie. Its one thing to envy someone's seeming better fortune, its entirely another to completely hate a person for it.
Fox does an excellent job conveying the landscape of both Newport and Yellowstone. The wonder and the excitement of the geysers, grizzleys and bison, as well as the difference between the variety of people represented in Yellowstone. Bandits, tourists, geologists, hunters (grrr Mr. Greybull), officers and servants.
The end result was both satisfying and fitting to the story. Maggie got the answers she was searching for and was able to move forward. The novel is a heart warming story of finding redemption, faith (not the religious kind) and learning to accept that knowledge can come with a price.