Keeping Faith
The Low Down
Title: Keeping Faith
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: HarperCollins
Date: 2000
Main Components: Religious controversy, love, family and believing in someone no matter what
Interesting Detail: The title has two meanings.
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult is a novel about a young girl, Faith, who is seeing God. Mariah White catches her husband cheating on her for the second time, and Faith, their seven-year-old daughter, witnesses everything. As Mariah struggles with her divorce, Faith begins to confide in an imaginary friend. But when Faith suddenly starts reciting bible passages, develops stigmata, and can perform miraculous healings, Mariah starts to wonder if her daughter – who has no religious background – is actually seeing God. As word spreads and controversy flairs, Mariah and Faith are questioned by believers and non-believers alike, caught in the media’s attention and threatening their lifestyle. Ian Fletcher, a televised atheist who investigates various religious miracles and proves them wrong on air, stirs up the most trouble for the mother and daughter. With negative and positive media focus and believers camping out on Mariah’s lawn, Mariah’s husband files for custody thinking he can protect Faith better, shaking up their lives even more.
Jodi Picoult novels can be a bit confusing in the beginning for those new to her style. Each book has a large variety of characters that switch with each chapter. All of these are written in first person. Now since that sentence was extremely confusing I’ll give you an example. Chapter one could be Mariah narrating, chapter two it’s Faith, chapter three it could be Mariah again or a whole new character could be introduced. A lot of the time you have no warning to who the character is, so it feels as though you are starting a whole new book. In Keeping Faith there are eight different characters that do the narrating at one point in the novel. Confusing at times? Yes. As I had already read a Jodi Picoult novel called My Sister’s Keeper (very good read!) a few months before this one, I wasn’t fazed by the constant narrator jumping. For a first time reader it takes a while to get used to it and every time a new character introduced you always have a few moments of confusion.
Originally I thought I wouldn’t like this book due to its religious focus. However, it isn’t an “I love God” type of book, it is more focused on the struggles Faith has dealing with her new found divinity. The whole novel has witty dialogue and keeps you on your toes. There are a few unexpected twists in the novel and even some love mixed in there. The characters are well written and developed. Even the characters that you want to hate have something good in them. The characters are all completely different with no similarities in personality, something that is hard to do when you’re juggling so many main characters. You always know who is narrating before their name is said because of their unique voice. I was quite surprised by this book, providing a lot to think about, heart wrenching situations, laughter and a warm fuzzy feeling.
I rate this book 7 late nights out of 10
Despite a few technical terms that can get annoying and confusion when trying to get used to character transitions, I really enjoyed this book start to finish and would recommend the book to anyone that doesn’t hate first person narrating and doesn’t have trouble keeping track of multiple story lines.
Other Fancy Tidbits
Price: $19.95
Other books by Jodi Picoult: My Sister’s Keeper, Handle with Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, The Tenth Circle, Vanishing Act, Second Chance, Perfect Match, Salem Falls, Plain Truth, The Pact, Mercy, Picture Perfect, Harvesting Heart, and The Songs of The Hump Back Whale.
Website: http://www.jodipicoult.com
Jodi Picoult is the author of The Pact and six other critically acclaimed novels. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, two sons, and daughter.
Title: Keeping Faith
Author: Jodi Picoult
Publisher: HarperCollins
Date: 2000
Main Components: Religious controversy, love, family and believing in someone no matter what
Interesting Detail: The title has two meanings.
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult is a novel about a young girl, Faith, who is seeing God. Mariah White catches her husband cheating on her for the second time, and Faith, their seven-year-old daughter, witnesses everything. As Mariah struggles with her divorce, Faith begins to confide in an imaginary friend. But when Faith suddenly starts reciting bible passages, develops stigmata, and can perform miraculous healings, Mariah starts to wonder if her daughter – who has no religious background – is actually seeing God. As word spreads and controversy flairs, Mariah and Faith are questioned by believers and non-believers alike, caught in the media’s attention and threatening their lifestyle. Ian Fletcher, a televised atheist who investigates various religious miracles and proves them wrong on air, stirs up the most trouble for the mother and daughter. With negative and positive media focus and believers camping out on Mariah’s lawn, Mariah’s husband files for custody thinking he can protect Faith better, shaking up their lives even more.
Jodi Picoult novels can be a bit confusing in the beginning for those new to her style. Each book has a large variety of characters that switch with each chapter. All of these are written in first person. Now since that sentence was extremely confusing I’ll give you an example. Chapter one could be Mariah narrating, chapter two it’s Faith, chapter three it could be Mariah again or a whole new character could be introduced. A lot of the time you have no warning to who the character is, so it feels as though you are starting a whole new book. In Keeping Faith there are eight different characters that do the narrating at one point in the novel. Confusing at times? Yes. As I had already read a Jodi Picoult novel called My Sister’s Keeper (very good read!) a few months before this one, I wasn’t fazed by the constant narrator jumping. For a first time reader it takes a while to get used to it and every time a new character introduced you always have a few moments of confusion.
Originally I thought I wouldn’t like this book due to its religious focus. However, it isn’t an “I love God” type of book, it is more focused on the struggles Faith has dealing with her new found divinity. The whole novel has witty dialogue and keeps you on your toes. There are a few unexpected twists in the novel and even some love mixed in there. The characters are well written and developed. Even the characters that you want to hate have something good in them. The characters are all completely different with no similarities in personality, something that is hard to do when you’re juggling so many main characters. You always know who is narrating before their name is said because of their unique voice. I was quite surprised by this book, providing a lot to think about, heart wrenching situations, laughter and a warm fuzzy feeling.
I rate this book 7 late nights out of 10
Despite a few technical terms that can get annoying and confusion when trying to get used to character transitions, I really enjoyed this book start to finish and would recommend the book to anyone that doesn’t hate first person narrating and doesn’t have trouble keeping track of multiple story lines.
Other Fancy Tidbits
Price: $19.95
Other books by Jodi Picoult: My Sister’s Keeper, Handle with Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, The Tenth Circle, Vanishing Act, Second Chance, Perfect Match, Salem Falls, Plain Truth, The Pact, Mercy, Picture Perfect, Harvesting Heart, and The Songs of The Hump Back Whale.
Website: http://www.jodipicoult.com
Jodi Picoult is the author of The Pact and six other critically acclaimed novels. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, two sons, and daughter.
posted by Laura G at
5:44 PM
1 Comments:
This is a really good blog topic! This book seems really interesting. As I study adolescent identity in their transition to adulthood, I've learned that divorce can be very conflicting. Faith seems like a strong girl for a 7 yr old. Keep up the posts!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home