melissakuzma's review against another edition
4.0
Jennifer Haigh is fantastic. I don't know many writers who can take on such a tough subject (sexual abuse of children by priests) and manage to write a really enjoyable book.
sweddy65's review against another edition
3.0
I very much enjoyed this book.Since I grew up without religion, and certainly without being part of the Catholic church, priests and nuns were always the exotic other. Intellectually I know they had families and friends, but in my imagination they seemed divorced from both, that they were some other category of human beings. Haigh's book situates the Catholic Church sex scandal within a family context. The narrator is the sister of a priest who has been accused of molesting a boy. To see all that in the context of family changed my perspective in a serious way.
The narrator is a strong character, as are the other biological family members. The least well-written character is Abby, the sister-in-law. Of course she appears through the lens of the narrator, but I kept thinking she had to be more complicated, more compassionate than she seemed through that lens. I didn't want to dislike her as much as Haigh (through her narrator) wanted me to.
The narrator is a strong character, as are the other biological family members. The least well-written character is Abby, the sister-in-law. Of course she appears through the lens of the narrator, but I kept thinking she had to be more complicated, more compassionate than she seemed through that lens. I didn't want to dislike her as much as Haigh (through her narrator) wanted me to.
tlchand's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, let's start with what I didn't like...
1) the author's need to be the smartest person in the room. It seemed as if she, or her editor, found it necessary to pick a word every 20 pages or so and enter it into a thesaurus replacing a perfectly fitting word with the most aberrant word possible. See how I did that?
2) similar line of thought to #1 only specific to catholicism. I understand that catholicism played a significant role in the families' history and story however, it seems as if much of the terminology used would only be known by priest.
What I did like...
1) element of suspense
2) pure human element of faith, despair, love, devotion, desire Jennifer Haigh portrayed through her characters
1) the author's need to be the smartest person in the room. It seemed as if she, or her editor, found it necessary to pick a word every 20 pages or so and enter it into a thesaurus replacing a perfectly fitting word with the most aberrant word possible. See how I did that?
2) similar line of thought to #1 only specific to catholicism. I understand that catholicism played a significant role in the families' history and story however, it seems as if much of the terminology used would only be known by priest.
What I did like...
1) element of suspense
2) pure human element of faith, despair, love, devotion, desire Jennifer Haigh portrayed through her characters
meglobello's review against another edition
4.0
I was nervous about this topic and afraid it was going to be anti-catholic but it was a great book!
sc104906's review against another edition
4.0
Written in a similar style to the movie Doubt, Faith is a story about a priest who is accused of molesting a young parishioner. Sheila McGann goes through the history of her family to bring to light the events that led to Father Art's possible crime. The reader learns new information along with the family is never explicitly sure about Father Art's actions. It is an interesting commentary on faith and the environment surrounding the sexual molestation cases in the Catholic church.
msf27's review against another edition
4.0
Slow to start. I loved the family and after the first 50 pages, I couldn't put it down! Heartbreaking ending!
quinndm's review against another edition
3.0
This book, like so many horridly similar stories, starts the same and unfolds as imagined... but, then, heads in a direction unexpected. And that is where the power of this book, this specific story, lies.
k8iedid's review against another edition
4.0
I found the narrator's voice captivating, yet confusing. I loved that she was speaking directly to the reader, but it wasn't clear until 2/3rds through how she gained her omniscient POV. Also, the narrator's voice kept blurring for me whether I was reading non/fiction.
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
4.0
Recommended by Jo, Ellen and Haley
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sfaith%20haigh__Orightresult__U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sfaith%20haigh__Orightresult__U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
judyward's review against another edition
4.0
Faith deals with the tragedy surrounding a charge of child molestation by a Catholic priest in a Boston church in the early 21st century when the pedophile priest scandal was rocking the Boston Archdiocese and causing many people to question their allegience to the church in which they were raised. Father Art McGann is the accused priest and this novel examines how the accusation--right or wrong--affects him, his family, the accuser, and the child who may have been harmed. Buried secrets galore are unearthed and the title can refer both to religious faith and faith in your famly. Told from three perspectives--Father Art, his half-sister, Sheila, who wants to believe in his innocence, and his half-brother, Mike, who can't believe that an 8 year old would lie about being molested and who, therefore, turns his back on his brother. This book reads like a work of nonfiction and the reader can feel sympathy for most of the characters involved. A perfect book for a discussion group.