Another Good Read

I've been laying low the last few days trying to shake off a cold. Hubby was sick with it all last week and I was hoping I could dodge it... but no such luck. So I'm trying to get some extra rest and "be good" so it will leave quickly. I don't have time right now to be sick!!
All I have the energy for today is a short book review. I am "a few" books behind here, so this takes another one off the list... Faith by New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Haigh is a powerful and thought-provoking "family drama."
From the book jacket: "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 what 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 through 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 an anguished meditation on loyalty and family, doubt and belief. Elegantly crafted, sharply observed, this is Jennifer Haigh's most ambitious novel to date."

It seems with each of her novels I read, I enjoy Haigh's writing more and more. She is indeed a gifted writer. She gives attention to detail, uncovering info about each character bit by bit as the plotline is slowly woven together. There is an element of suspense as the reader, along with the family members, tries to decide whether Father Art could possibly have done the unthinkable act that he is accused of. Her writing is well phrased, she has mastered the use of simile and metaphor, and her characters are real- complex but totally believable. Haigh masterfully develops the characters and the plot as she unravels the dynamics of a family with secrets long hidden.
If you belong to a book club, this would be a great choice. Well worth the read, this is possibly my favourite Haigh novel.

Peace,
Linda

"Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice ." ~ Paul Auster