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Summary: Provocative thought producing book once again...go Picoult!
Review: Yet again, Jodi Picoult has produced a novel that keeps your eyes glued to the book until it is finished. She is so adept at interweaving these characters in an intriguing love story that questions the tenements that most people take forgranted. My heart went out to Faith and all she was exposed to. I could visualize the hoards of people on her doorstep, all wishing for a part of the miracle child. Ian Fletcher is one of the most interesting characters I have encountered in my readings. He represents a philosophy that is probably a small part of everyone's psyche. In typical Jodi Picoult fashion, she forces you as the reader to draw your own conclusions about Faith and in turn, learn some things about yourself.
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Summary: What do you believe in...and why?
Review: Religion is a sticky subject. It nearly got me kicked out of a rabbi's office while researching KEEPING FAITH, and it's exactly what makes this novel a classic office-cooler/book club discussion book: the kind that inspires everyone to share an opinion because surely he or she is the one who's right. I wrote KEEPING FAITH because I wanted to explore what happens when religion descends upon someone who never asked for it. Mariah White is a newly-divorced emotional basket case when her young daughter Faith suddenly develops an imaginary playmate...who might be God...and female. Religious officials and the media descend, including the illustrious Ian Fletcher---the world's first television atheist, who's on a rampage to prove Faith a hoax---even as he finds himself responding to her mother's vulnerability. KEEPING FAITH is full of questions: Is Mariah putting her daughter up to this? Would a good parent support her daughter's opinions...or deny them in order to keep her from public scrutiny? What makes doubt turn into belief? I hope you'll join Mariah and Faith and Ian, as they struggle to solve questions that don't really have answers. Please email me and let me know what you think!
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Summary: One of Picoult's best
Review: Jodi Picoult writes Oprah-esque books, but while I stopped reading Oprah's choices because they got too depressing, I've kept reading Picoult. She explores interesting topics, and covers lots of perspectives. This is one of my favorites, dealing with the nature of God, the impact of the media, and the meaning of family. If you like Keeping Faith, check out Second Glance.
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Summary: My favorite thus far...
Review: This story swept me away from the beginning. I was charmed by the premise. The delightful little girl with the "imaginary friend" or could she be talking to God? Very well written, very insightful. I found the mother to be quite unusual in her open-mindedness. I loved the quest she took talking to priests, rabbis, psychiatrists, etc. The ending....A-1.
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Summary: Refreshing Read...
Review: Such a unique premise... with wonderfully written characters. I enjoyed this book immensely. It took a little longer than most of Picoult's books to really get into... but it was enjoyable till the end. If you haven't had the chance to read Jodi Picoult yet, do it! She is truly an amazing writer...
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Summary: Picoult is a fine storyteller
Review: There are those authors that are fine writers and those that are fine storytellers. It's always a pleasure to come across an author that is endowed with both gifts. Keeping Faith is a highly readable, thought provoking look at religious dogma, family secrets and modern relationships. What would you choose to believe if confronted with the unexplainable? Can true religious miracles exist in this age of doubt? Picoult does not try to steer us in any one direction, just poses the questions and provides the fodder for thought and discussion. For that she gets 4.5 stars. My only negative comment pertains to the point of view, which jumps between a third person and first person narrative. I often found it confusing and rather offputting and would have preferred a consistent type of narration.
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Summary: Great Novel
Review: Annotation: 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, which leads to reciting passages from the Bible, developing stigmata, and beginning 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.Author Bio: Jodi Picoult grew up in Nesconset, New York. Her previous novels include "Plain Truth," "Mercy," "Keeping Faith," and "The Pact." Jodi Picoult received an A.B. in creative writing from Princeton and a master's degree in education from Harvard. The recipient of the 2003 New England Book Award for her entire body of work, she is the author of ten previous novels, including "Second Glance", "Perfect Match", and "Salem Falls." Jodi Picoult's novels center on family, relationships, and the balance of love. Riveting plots bring to light questions and issues that remain with a reader long after the last page is turned. Eleven of her published books have been critically acclaimed. Evaluation: Many people have their own opinions of Mariah and Faith. When it came to the custody battle between Mariah and Colin, Mr. Metz took advantage of the fact that Mariah was institutionalized. He made her out to be a mentally unbalanced person, as well as an unfit parent. Many people as well as the media felt that Mariah was the one who made Faith pretend she was seeing God. Towards the end of the novel, Mariah won custody of Faith. Everything worked out for the better. Also, the curious people still didn't know if Faith was really seeing God or not, because everyone had their own opinions and beliefs about it.
Overall, "Keeping Faith" is an extremely well written novel. Jodi Picoult kept me reading until the end. I just couldn't seem to put this novel down. It deals with love, heartbreak, judgments, battles, and religion. There are so many elements that keep the reader wanting to know what happens next. I love the fact that at the end, the people are left not knowing whether or not Faith was really seeing God. It just depends on your opinion or belief. I definitely recommend that everyone should read "Keeping Faith," by Jodi Picoult.
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Summary: A Page Turner!
Review: KEEPING FAITH by Jodi Picoult This was my second book by Jodi Picoult, and I will definitely be reading more by her. As with THE PACT, KEEPING FAITH centered on a controversial topic, something that would be seen in today's headlines. In KEEPING FAITH, there are two themes - one of a family being torn apart by infidelity and divorce, and the other one centering on the child that is caught in the middle. But this is not any ordinary child custody story. What happens here is something that is only seen in Catholic history books and other religious literature: Seven-year-old Faith is discovered to have powers that are akin to miracles performed by Catholic saints. Faith's news brings the media to their home town, everyone wanting to witness and spread the tale of this little girl who can bring back the dead, who is suffering from stigmata (spontaneous bleeding from the hands and feet), and can perform other miracles. Her mother Mariah is trying her best to deal with this plus deal with her broken marriage. With the help of her mother, Mariah tries to make sense of what is happening. When her ex-husband Colin finds out what is happening to Faith, he uses this to point fingers at Mariah, telling the world she is causing her own daughter to suffer and become a media circus. He files for custody, when only a few months ago he had walked out the door, not bothering to look back. Faith is torn between her two parents, and at the same time finds herself in the middle of this mystery about herself, not knowing why she is able to do what she does. KEEPING FAITH is a riveting, complex story that will keep the reader interested till the very end. It is what I definitely call a page-turner. Highly recommended!
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Summary: A Faithful Novel
Review: Keeping Faith is a magnificent novel for teens or adults that keeps you thinking to the very end. It's a book that you absolutely just can't put down. It keeps you interested from cover to cover. The main character, Faith, begins to believe that God is communicating with her. Jodi Picoult's imagery that she has created in this novel is absolutely amazing. It makes feel like you know Faith and her family. Faith trys to convince everyone around her that she really is talking to God. She keeps her composure while dealing with her mom's depression after catching her husband in the act of an affair for the second time. The characters come alive in this marvelous book, and it's almost like you can feel what their feeling and what they're going through. It's truly a fantastic book that can convince anyone that when times get hard, to just "keep faith."
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Summary: Her Guard
Review: Keeping Faith, by Jodi Picoult, was a very moving and realistic novel. I enjoyed reading this book very much. It seemed so real and was written so well th at I could actually see this happening. I never wanted to put it down, it just kept pulling me in farther and farther into the plot line. Half of the ending was predictable while the other half surprised me very much. The way the author wrote this novel was just so real and so normal and the Whites were such a normal family, but she wrote it in a compelling way and it truly amazes me that she can write about regular life in a way that you do not see in regular life; this author is gifted. Some parts of the book were utterly predictable, while others had me scratching my head and picking guesses from a hat.
Some would argue that this book is for only the religious Christian, Catholic, or Jewish believers, but I would recommend it to all people. This novel really shows all views of all characters in the spectrum, it is not religious, it simply portrays people doing what they want and some are religious yes, but in real life there's always going to be someone who's religious and then those who are not; that's one of the reasons that I think this book is so close to home on so many levels for so many different people. Jodi Picoult is just stepping out her range of views and trying to give equal views. Although this book was somewhat confusing at several parts it would catch you up to speed soon after and I personally loved it, and I think I'll read it again.
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