has ALL you need!

A community for book lovers to create their own bookshelves, share and explore books.

• .

  • Comments

    I absolutely loved this book in terms of subject matter and character development. It's the run-up to the new millennium. Faith, a seven-year old girl, starts to see her "Guard" after her parents' divorce, develops stigmata and heals people. The title "Keeping Faith" - a wordplay - is ... Continue

    Comments

    I absolutely loved this book in terms of subject matter and character development. It's the run-up to the new millennium. Faith, a seven-year old girl, starts to see her "Guard" after her parents' divorce, develops stigmata and heals people. The title "Keeping Faith" - a wordplay - is very apt: it could either refer to the custody battle or be interpreted literally. The author doesn't shy away from controversial topics: a Jewish girl seeing and communicating with God, God is female, Catholic doctrine, involvement of different faiths and religions, persistent media coverage and paparazzi...

    At the beginning there is a scene where a couple, previously in an acrymonious divorce battle seeking counselling, is getting back together because of Faith's presence. If that was the case then why couldn't Faith get her own parents back together? (Well, I am quite glad she didn't - but this is just something in the back of my mind.)

    This is the first book I read by Jodi Picoult and I enjoyed her style so much that I am on the lookout for other books written by her - and from what I have seen so far I am certainly spoilt for choice!

    Synopsis

    Somewhere between belief and doubt lies faith. For the second time in her marriage, Mariah White catches her husband with another woman and Faith, their seven year old daughter, witnesses every painful minute. In the aftermath of a sudden divorce, Mariah struggles with depression and Faith seeks solace in a new friend… a friend who may or may not be imaginary.

    Faith talks to her "Guard"constantly; begins to recite passages from the Bible— a book she's never read. Fearful for her daughter's sanity, Mariah sends her to several psychiatrists. Yet when Faith develops stigmata and begins to perform miraculous healings, Mariah wonders if her daughter-- a girl with no religious background-- might indeed be seeing God. As word spreads and controversy heightens, Mariah and Faith are besieged by believers and disbelievers alike, caught in a media circus that threatens what little stability they have left.

    What are you willing to believe? Is Faith a prophet or a troubled little girl? Is Mariah a good mother facing an impossible crisis— or a charlatan using her daughter to reclaim the attention her unfaithful husband withheld? As the story builds to a climactic battle for custody, Mariah must discover that spirit is not necessarily something that comes from religion, but from inside oneself.

    Fascinating, thoughtful, and suspenseful, Keeping Faith explores a family plagued by the media, the medical profession, and organized religion in a world where everyone has an opinion but no one knows the truth. At her controversial and compelling best, Jodi Picoult masterfully explores the moment when boundaries break down, when illusions become reality, and when the only step left to take is a leap of faith.

    Author's Note

    Keeping Faith is about a little girl who, in the wake of a family crisis, develops an imaginary friend who turns out to be God. And female. In this chapter, Faith and her mother Mariah realize that their lives are about to change: a cult takes up residence on the front lawn to uphold Faith as the new Messiah; and a Winnebago arrives bearing the infamous Ian Fletcher, an atheist with a television pulpit, who's come to prove that Faith is a hoax. But then she works a miracle…

    

    Is this helpful?

• ― wgeddert said on Aug 26, 2008 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

• .

  • 

  • I wish I could feel differently about this book. I didn't finish it, but I finished as much as I wanted to or could finish. Not one of Jodi's best books.

    http://community.livejournal.com/bookopolis/504...

    

    Is this helpful?

• ― mndy said on Apr 6, 2007 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

For the second time in her marriage, Mariah White catches her husband with another woman, and Faith, their seven-year-old daughter, witnesses every painful minute. In the aftermath of a sudden divorce, Mariah struggles with depression and Faith begins to confide in an imaginary friend. At first, Mariah dismisses these exchanges as a child's imagination. But when Faith starts reciting passages from the Bible, develops stigmata, and begins to perform miraculous healings, Mariah wonders if her daughter--a girl with no religious background-might actually be seeing God. As word spreads and controversy flares, Mariah and Faith are besieged by believers and disbelievers alike, caught in a media circus that threatens what little stability they have left. Building inexorably to a climactic battle for custody, Keeping Faith explores a family plagued by the media, the medical profession, and organized religion in a world where everyone has an opinion but no one knows the truth. Fascinating, thoughtful, and suspenseful, this extraordinary novel is Jodi Picoult at her best: controversial and compelling.

Groups with this in collection

Jodi Picoult Books (53)

50 Book Challenge! (449)

Eclectic Book Club (239)

Groups discussions

• Keeping Faith Jodi Picoult Books (1 comment, 1 person)

• 歐美小說FictionNovelContemporary litChick LitMy favoritesdramaNot Owned