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A review by book_concierge
Faith by Jennifer Haigh
5.0
Narrator Sheila McGann tells the story of her Irish-Catholic family against the backdrop of the priest-sex-abuse scandal that rocked the Boston Archdiocese. Sheila’s older half-brother, Art, is a priest accused of molesting a child. Her younger brother, like much of the community, is horrified and repulsed by the allegations and immediately assumes Father Art’s guilt. Their mother is paralyzed by fear and dread – loving her son, not believing the accusations, unable to face her faith community and left adrift with her anxiety. Sheila is unbelieving but puzzled and, as she tries to determine where the truth lies finds herself conflicted.
I love the way that Haigh develops these characters and the central issues of the book. It is a book that is about family more than it is about any particular religion. Sheila is a wonderful narrator – trying to be accurate but not able to completely divorce her feelings and biases. She explores her family history – the many issues never discussed, the silences that say more about the family than any words spoken. She gives the reader much to think about:
On her family: “Every one of us limps from old wounds. … We poke each other’s tender places with a stick.”
On love: “We love those who fit the peculiar voids within us, our hollow wounds. We love to fill the spaces of old loves left behind.”
Sheila’s narrative carefully reveals the plot, including some twists that caught this reader off guard; the story is revealed much as it would be in real life … a little here, a little there, until we are able to weave all the threads into a final story that may still leave some questions left unanswered, but generally satisfies our need to know what happened.
This is the kind of literary fiction I love; it made me think of the many issues raised, propelled me forward to reach the end, and made me want to start over as soon as I had finished.
I love the way that Haigh develops these characters and the central issues of the book. It is a book that is about family more than it is about any particular religion. Sheila is a wonderful narrator – trying to be accurate but not able to completely divorce her feelings and biases. She explores her family history – the many issues never discussed, the silences that say more about the family than any words spoken. She gives the reader much to think about:
On her family: “Every one of us limps from old wounds. … We poke each other’s tender places with a stick.”
On love: “We love those who fit the peculiar voids within us, our hollow wounds. We love to fill the spaces of old loves left behind.”
Sheila’s narrative carefully reveals the plot, including some twists that caught this reader off guard; the story is revealed much as it would be in real life … a little here, a little there, until we are able to weave all the threads into a final story that may still leave some questions left unanswered, but generally satisfies our need to know what happened.
This is the kind of literary fiction I love; it made me think of the many issues raised, propelled me forward to reach the end, and made me want to start over as soon as I had finished.