Faith

Jennifer Haigh's books are ones I look forward to and enjoy reading a great deal. Faith, her latest novel, is no exception.

Set in 2002, Sheila McGann is close to her older brother, Art, a Catholic priest. Her younger brother, Mike, is married with his own three sons, and Sheila remains single. In Boston where the McGanns live, Catholic priests are under fire in 2002 as more cases where priests have molested young boys come to light. When Art is accused of molesting a young boy, Sheila comes to defend him. In the process, she unearths several secrets about her family.

At first I had to remind myself that Sheila is the narrator of this book. While the story is mostly about Art and the charges leveled against him, Sheila is telling the story and what happened at this time in her brother's life. Once I was able to get into this book, I wanted to keep reading and find out what really happened with Art and the young boy, Aidan, whom he befriended. As I read I could feel my eyes open wide as Haigh revealed several secrets the McGann family kept to themselves. Despite the secrets, or perhaps because of them, the McGann family was believable and a good likeness of how many families operate and interact.

Faith is a women's fiction novel that book clubs will enjoy discussing and readers will enjoy immensely.