Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Review: Faith by Jennifer Haigh

Faith: A NovelFaith by Jennifer Haigh is a powerful story of corruption in the Catholic Church and the difficulties of finding and holding onto faith - in religion and in others.  The narrator, Sheila McGann, is the daughter of Irish American parents who was raised in a Boston suburb and now lives in Philadelphia.  She is drawn home to Boston when her oldest brother, Art, is accused of molesting a young boy.  A scandal and devastating for both the accused, accuser and their families for sure - but even more so because Art is a priest.  This news breaks amidst the crisis in the Catholic Church as it becomes increasingly clear that the Archdiocese was aware of the trangressions committed by priests and the Church was complicit by moving known pedophiles to new parishes to prey on other unsuspecting parishioners. Haigh tackles this charged and controversial topic by developing richly drawn characters who demonstrate how difficult it is to know the extent of the complex story behind a headline. 

Sheila McGann, upon hearing the news of the accusations against Art, cannot believe the man she knows and grew up with could be capable of hurting a child.  She is certain that he has been wrongly accused and advises her brother to "come down off the cross" when he doesn't seem to want to vehemently defend his case.  He has put his faith in the Church and believes they will take care of him while Sheila believes the Church will take care of itself and sacrifice Art if necessary to avert further controversy.  As she helps Art move out of the rectory and into a rented apartment, she gains a peek into the inner life of her solitary brother, the priest, and begins to appreciate the loneliness he faces daily. 

As much as this story is about Art and the Catholic Church, it is also about the McGann family and the dynamics that have defined their interactions with each other.  In this quote, Sheils tries to explain the family in which she was raised:
Evasion comes naturally in my tribe, this loose jumble of McGann, Devine and Breen. . . . My Father is a man of shameful habits.  My Mother is lace-curtain Irish.  She will settle for correctness, or the appearance of it; but in her heart she only wants to be good. The space between them is crisscrossed with silent bridges, built of half-truths and suppressions.  The chasm beneath is deep and wide.
This quote perfectly describes the reticent McGann's whose matriarch is most concerned with what others will think while much goes unsaid and unacknowledged.  It is not hard to see why secrets are so pervasive in this family.  There are certainly parallels between the  McGann tribe and the Catholic Church  - the suppressions and the willingness to settle for the appearance of correctness if the achievement of it becomes too aspirational.  

My thoughts
I grew up Catholic and attended almost 12 years of Catholic school and am outraged by the sinister role the Church played in covering up the transgressions of some of its priests.  It certainly shakes my faith in an institution I took at face value as a child and believed was above reproach.  Haigh addresses the disappointment and anger felt by Catholics such as me but also exposes the collateral damage done by the scandal and the danger of prejudging everyone based on the acts of a few.   A priest in the novel says 
Meeting a woman, meeting a man.  God forbid, meeting a child.  I'm a priest, my dear.  In the current climate, any human interaction is suspect.
Haigh does a superb job of both portraying a complicated, complex family and addressing the controversial topic of the Church's pedophilia scandals.  She unravels the story and the characters slowly and keeps you wanting to turn the pages to learn just a little more about this collection of imperfect characters and to get the next installment in the story that is not as it seems in the beginning.  I cannot recommend this book heartily enough and it will definitely be in my top ten for 2011.


13 comments:

  1. Colleen, glad u enjoyed this one as much as I did. Nice review.

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  2. Top ten, huh? I really liked two of her earlier novels, so will definitely give this a try, too. Thanks.

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  3. I'm really looking forward to getting this book sometime. Thanks for the review!

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  4. Really nice review, Colleen. Truly. I'm not Catholic, but I think everyone has been saddened by some of the things that have been revealed and the decisions made by the people in charge. I keep remembering that there was only one perfect person that ever lived and everyone else is only human and, therefore, flawed in many ways.

    I liked the way you described how this family reacted and I'm going to try to read this one very soon.

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  5. Not sure it will be on my favorites list but I liked this novel so much more than I expected to - given the topic. I was raised Catholic as well. My brief thoughts are scheduled to post tomorrow.

    BTW, in the comment form Blogger showed my name as anonymous even though I'm signed into my acct. Hope it isn't going to be another one of those days. I went with my name/url instead

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  6. I was not raised Catholic but I am outraged also at the coverup of what went on. I think this does sound like a great read and after reading your review will be putting it on my tbr list.

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  7. I think the author made a good decision telling the story through the eyes of Art's sister. Adds a little buffer for the reader because of the subject matter. I don't know if it would have been as easy (in terms of being able to finish) a read if it had been first person.

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  8. Hands off to the author for tackling this topic. It is one you don't see covered that much. I too was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school and think so much of how this was handled is just wrong wrong wrong. I suspect I will end up reading this even though I'm a lapsed Catholic now.

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  9. And I just reread my comment and my first line doesn't make any sense!! I think I meant to say "Hats off" rather than "Hands off."

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  10. I loved this one too! I read her first novel and loved it, and I don't know why it took so long for me to read another one. I'm looking forward to filling in the gaps in her backlist too.

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  11. I am intrigued by this but worried that subject matter would get me upset/angered about the whole real life situation. I may try getting it from the library to see how I react.

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  12. I have been hearing so many great things about this book - it is already on my TBR but it must go closer to the top.

    Thank for being on this tour.

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  13. I checked twice to make sure this book really was a fictional story--it seemed to real, written like a biography. The characters and family drew me in with each page. I picked it up to read every chance that I got, and it stayed with me for weeks after I read it.

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