My family spent a week at Disney World right after school was out this year. Sadly, on our fourth day of vacation, we got into our car to go to a water park only to find a crack in my windshield from top to bottom. So, we spent the fifth day of our vacation sitting and waiting for the windshield to be replaced. UGH. The only good thing about the entire event was that I got to sit and read for 2 hours. I wasn't dashing off to another ride, or sweating profusely in a non-shaded line. No, I was reading and devouring Revenge Wears Prada. Imagine, then, my frustration when my book was done and my car wasn't. Thank heavens for my Nook app and for my inability to refuse a sale (several weeks ago I downloaded two books to my Nook when they were on sale). Keeping Faith was right there waiting for me.
I have read many of Picoult's books. They are intense. They make you think and they make you feel. I wasn't sure that I was ready for one of her books on vacation. But it was either read Keeping Faith (because I had read the other downloaded book already) or sit and stare at a wall. I chose to read.
I am not sure where to begin with this book. It is complicated from the first chapter, as the theme of infidelity is explored, along with Mariah's mental instability. Then, add Faith's self-imposed mutism as a reaction to her parent's relationship. Oh my. But things get really complicated when Faith is injured and suddenly begins a relationship with a very special imaginary friend while she begins to quote scripture. Faith is seven and has been raised in a non-religious home. She's never been to church and she's never seen a Bible, much less read one. Suddenly, she is quoting the word of God. Oh my.
I think I should stop for a second and give you a quick synopsis of my religious beliefs. I am not afraid of them. In fact, I have grown quite comfortable with them over the years. Honestly, I do not know what I believe. Much like Faith, I was raised by parents with differing religious beliefs. My mother was Methodist; my step-father Catholic. As a result, no one went to church. I did go to a Methodist church with my grandmother for a few weeks each summer when I went to visit her and my aunt, but that was really it. My mother believed that you did not need to go to church to pray or to have faith but, honestly, I doubted God. In lots of ways, I think I still do. And, lots of these doubts were reaffirmed in Keeping Faith. Thanks to Ian Fletcher.
Ian is another of Picoult's characters. He is an atheist (I am not) and his job is to roam the country disproving, with the help of scientific facts and theories, religious miracles. His biggest issue with religion is how anyone could believe in a God who allowed his son to suffer. Most parents run to the aid of their child when they are hurt or in trouble, yet God allowed Jesus to suffer. Ian finds fault with this and can't put his faith into such a being. Much like Ian, I found myself as a child wondering how a God, who everyone claimed to be so good, so caring, so wonderful, could take my father away from me when I was a baby. How could he leave my mother a widow at 25 with a 1 year old? It just didn't make sense to me and I think, in many ways, it still baffles me. But, I have made peace with it. My life is what it is and perhaps in the spirit of "everything happens for a reason" my life began as it did so that I could have the life I have now. Who knows? Truly, who KNOWS? None of us. We can believe what we want, but it's all an act of faith. Not of true knowledge.
As always, I don't want to spill the beans and summarize this amazing story that is sure to touch you in some way. But you need to be aware that, should you choose to read this book, you are not picking up a light read. This book has so many themes and ideas swimming around: infidelity, religion, mental illness, suicide, love, mother-daughter relationships (or really, the power mothers possess), the media. And that's only part one. Part two centers around the custody battle over Faith and there's nothing quite like reading a court trial created by Picoult. She's a master.
Keeping Faith was a great read. Once the court scenes began, I couldn't flip the pages fast enough to see how it might all resolve itself in the end. I did re-read the last two pages several times, just to be sure I was reading what I thought I was reading. It still makes me smile.
Happy reading (and thinking) everyone,
:)Dodie
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