Faith - Hardcover

Haigh, Jennifer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1444811193 ISBN 13: 9781444811193

Publisher: Ulverscroft Ltd, 2012

Synopsis

One woman's search for the truth after scandal rocks her family, and the explosive family secrets she uncovers, in this complex, moving fourth novel from bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Haigh.

In THE LOST GOSPEL, Jennifer Haigh explores the repercussions of one family's history of silence, when a priest's sex scandal forces his family's untold past to surface. Art, Sheila, and Mike are siblings in a large extended Irish-American family from the Boston suburbs. Though their father is a non-believer, their mother is Lace Curtain Irish-Catholic, having raised her children to keep family secrets just that, secrets, in a home where most subjects are taboo.

Sheila is concerned when Art, beloved priest leading a major Catholic parish outside Boston, seems to fall off the grid just days before Easter. Then the news breaks that he has been accused of sexual misconduct. The media coverage shatters the community and pits Art's family members against one another, leaving Sheila determined to uncover the truth and-she hopes-clear his name.

Now that Sheila's in town and determined to help prove Art's innocence, she finds herself locking horns with her younger brother, Mike, who cannot shake the feeling that Art might be guilty.

By turns disturbed by what Art might have done and furious at the seemingly unfair accusations, the truth remains elusive for readers in this artfully-crafted family drama.

About this title

Review:

‘Haigh’s writing is rich and mellifluous’ The Times

Praise for THE CONDITION

‘With humour, grace and an abiding compassion that is becoming her signature, Jennifer Haigh illuminates the dark tangle of desire and deed that is the family, that crucible we so often yearn to flee yet keep coming back to again and again. The Condition is unsentimental, compelling and moving, and I urge you to read it!’ Andre Dubus III, NYT bestselling author of House of Sand and Fog

‘The ailment at the centre of this remarkable novel is the human condition itself. Jennifer Haigh has written a sprawling, emotionally gripping account of one family’s troubled history, enlivened by her formidable intelligence and deep insight into her character’s hearts and minds.’ Tom Perrotta, bestselling author of Little Children

‘Haigh creates a realistic family dynamic from richly drawn characters, capturing the family members’ various expectations of assumptions about one another. Compelling; highly recommended for all fiction collections.’ Library Journal

Praise for BAKER TOWERS

‘The living, breathing organism that is Ms. Haigh's captivating book...[is an] effortlessly haunting story...with satisfyingly real and vivid individuals...beyond being an expert natural storyteller with an acute sense of her characters' humanity,[she] sustains a clear sense of Bakerton's vitality, or lack thereof ...this book has the heart to end, credibly and unsentimentally, on a note of rebirth. And Bakerton is utterly, entrancingly alive on the page even as it is supposed to be fading away’ Janet Maslin, New York Times

A lovingly told, detailed novel of postwar America...compassionate and powerful...it is through the accretion of tiny, telling details, of finely observed moments, that a universe is created and a spell cast...This is a book of great heart, a song of praise for a too-little-praised part of America-for the working families whose toils and constancy have done so much to make the country great’ Chicago Tribune

‘Haigh's got a keen way of getting inside the hopes and discomforts of her characters. She moves lightly between snippets of anecdote and insight, creating her world sparingly, convincingly, matter-of-factly’ San Francisco Chronicle

‘Haigh has constructed a hypnotic portrait of a coal-country mining town that spans a quarter century and captures wistfully the demise of the culture...[Haigh] is capable of creating flesh and blood characters are authentic and idiosyncratic...The novel is constructed around consciously small moments of ordinary domesticity...In page after page Haigh demonstrates her profound ability to illuminate the personal encounters and minor revelations that make up a life, while offering a crisp, insightful snapshot of a particular place and time’ Boston Globe

‘Jennifer Haigh gets a memorable grip on family and locale in her vivid novel Baker Towers...It's hard to escape...the characterizations and the texture Haigh conjures so effectively carry this largely superb novel. Haigh's tone is pitch-perfect, her grasp of psychology, masterly. The way Joyce Novak develops, overcoming the chill in her loins to connect with the warmth of her heart, is but one example of a command equal to those of Richard Russo and Anne Tyler, novelists who also examine the large issues that roil small towns. Baker Towers isn't perfect, but it sure is close’ Denver Post

Praise for MRS KIMBLE

‘At turns beautiful, devastating and complex, Mrs. Kimble explores the interplay between deception and vulnerability, betraying Haigh's ambitious talent in the process’ Chicago Tribune

‘The talent evident in this novel is stunning. The question is not whether Haigh might turn out to be a good writer. Rather, we have the intriguing possibility that the next great American author is already in print’ Fort Worth Star-Telegram

‘The measured prose and care for detail show a promising talent’ Kirkus Reviews

‘Like The Hours...Mrs Kimble tells the interlocking stories of three very different women...a clever premise, backed up by three remarkably well limned Mrs. Kimbles’ Washington Post Book World

Praise for JENNIFER HAIGH

‘A novelist who can really tell a story...we’re in the hands of a master, one who fully subscribes to what author Alice Mattison describes as the opportunity to give fiction a chance to mean something. Haigh writes from her soul’ Milwaukee Journal Sentinal

From the Back Cover:

In the spring of 2002, a perfect storm hits Boston: Trustedpriests are accused of the worst possible betrayal. Faithexplores the fallout for one devout family.

Estranged from her family, Sheila McGann returns homewhen her older brother, Art--a popular pastor--finds himselfat the center of the maelstrom. Her strict mother is in a state ofangry denial. Sheila's younger brother, Mike, has convicted hisbrother in his heart. But most disturbing of all is Art himself, who dodges Sheila's questions and refuses to defend himself.

As secrets begin to surface, Faith explores the corrosiveconsequences of one family's history of silence--and theresilience it finds through forgiveness. A suspenseful tale of onewoman's quest for the truth, Faith is a haunting meditation onloyalty and family, doubt and belief. Elegantly crafted, sharplyobserved, this is Jennifer Haigh's most ambitious novel to date.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ulverscroft Ltd
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1444811193
• ISBN 13: 9781444811193
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 392