Keeping Faith

For me, this was quite the page-turner. I enjoyed the way that Jodi took a popular religious theme and made it into a realistic story about an everyday mother and daughter, and keeping it convincing the whole time. It explores the idea of religious doubt being challenged by something that nobody can explain, and along the way everybody is forced to question what they truly believe. I was really struck by this story, because it made me wonder how much proof somebody needs that goes against what they believe (or don't believe), in order to cause them to second guess themselves. I guess in this particular case, it depends how attached you are to your skepticism, but also how much beef you have with Christianity that is not related at all show more to anything the religion actually teaches.
The ending does not provide a whole lot of closure, but to me that just reinforces that at the end of the day, we can never absolutely know the answers to spiritual questions; we can only be guided by our own experience. show less

Explores family dynamics and the intricacies of motherhood, and concludes, as did The Pact, with tense courtroom drama.

In the small town of New Canaan, N.H., 33-year-old Mariah discovers that her husband, Colin, is having an affair. Years ago, his cheating drove Mariah to attempt suicide and Colin had her briefly committed to an institution. Now Mariah's facing divorce and again fighting depression, when her eight-year-old daughter, Faith, suddenly acquires an imaginary friend. Soon this friend is telling the girl how to bring her grandmother back from the dead and how to cure a baby dying of AIDS. As Faith manifests stigmata, doctors are astounded, and religious controversy ensues, in part because Faith insists that God is a woman.

An show more alarmed Colin sues for custody of Faith, and the fear of losing her daughter dramatically changes meek, diffident Mariah into a strong, protective and brave woman, one who fights for her daughter, holds her own against doctors and lawyers and finds the confidence to pursue a surprising new romance with TV atheist Ian Fletcher, cynical "Spokesman of the Millennium Generation."

Though the novel feels a bit long, Picoult's pacing stabilizes the increasingly complicated plot, and the final chapters, in which Mariah fights for Faith's custody in court, are riveting. The mother-daughter relationship is all the more powerful for being buffeted by the exploitative and ethically questionable domains of medicine, media, law and religion; these characters' many triumphant transformations are Picoult's triumphs as well. Agent, Laura Gross. show less

I was hooked from the beginning of this book until the end. I could not read fast enough. As a Catholic, I was thoroughly engrossed as young Faith White talks to God, heals people, and bears stigmata despite the fact she lacks any religious upbringing. Doctors and psychiatrists ponder over her situation. Jewish and Catholic leaders debate the authenticity of Faith's abilities. Hordes of the faithful crowd around the family home and a famous atheist sets out to disprove Faith's unusual powers while her mother and father go to court for custody of Faith. The drama was relentless and I was all in. Awesome story!

This is a tense and very well-written psychological drama. Over 450 pages, but I read it in just three days, finding it very difficult to put down.

There's a strongly religious element, psychological questions, medical issues and a court case. All so well-researched that they feel authentic without being overtly educational. And some interesting issues arise. How to tell whether a child is hallucinating or seeing visions? Is she psychotic? Is her mother, who narrates much of the book, telling the whole truth? Who can be trusted?

It's meticulously plotted and the story moves on at a great pace. I couldn't always remember who was whom amongst the rabbis, priests and other minor characters, but it didn't really matter. I thought the ending show more of the book was well-handled and satisfying, even though not all questions are answered, and there is a short final scene which seemed to open things up again. But perhaps the readers are supposed to decide for themselves what to believe.

Recommended if you like this genre.

Longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2025/03/keeping-faith-by-jodi-picoult.html show less

Another one of Jodi Picoult’s family dramas. This one involves adultery, divorce, and a child custody battle. The twist in this tale however comes from the little girl, aptly names Faith, who starts ‘suffering’ from stigmata, and her mother gets blamed for making it up to get attention. It’s called Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

The story behind the story for me is about the mom who is one of those women who thought the sun rose and set on her husband and wonders what a man like him ever saw in a woman like her. Her confidence is shattered when he has an affair and leaves her, and gradually she learns how to trust herself and find her strength, not only for herself, but for her daughter as well. I get the impression that a strong show more part of the author’s identity is that of mother because in most of her books that I have read so far, she delves deeper into yet another aspect of what it’s like being a mother. In this case, it means believing the word of your child even when it doesn’t make sense and nobody else believes her. You believe her because you’re her mother and you need to believe her, for both your sakes.

The book also gives some insight into stigmata, what it’s about, how it gets recognised by the church, the attention it gets from the media and devout Christians, and how the medical community explains it. I personally don’t believe it so those parts of the book were just kind of strange for me. Oh, and what was also interesting about it, is that the visions of God that the girl has was of a female God. That created a whole hoopla of it’s own, as you can imagine. As far as the most popular religions go (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc), God is neither gender and both.

Due to the topic being as much about religion as it was, this wasn’t one of my favourite of her novels. Otherwise, it’s classic Jodi Picoult with the family drama / courtroom drama /social commentary. show less

Another engrossing read from Picoult, whose genre is controversial subjects turned into intriguing plots. This one's about "god" speaking to and through a small child -- who may or may not be able to raise the dead, heal mental illness, and suffer from stigmata. But like the other novels by Picoult I've read this one leaves me flat, or should I say unfaithful? Good book to read on an airplane, then pass along to another believer.

I have mixed feelings about Jodi Picoult. On the one hand, she is a fantastic story-teller. On the other hand, too much of her and the books start feeling formulaic.

This is the story of Faith, a seven-year-old Jewish girl who, upon her parents' divorce, begins seeing visions of God (a female!), experiencing stigmata and healing people. This leads to enormous amounts of media, church and public attention, ending all possibility of living a normal life. It also causes Faith's father to seek custody, as he believes her mother is not protecting Faith from all the chaos, and that she may even be causing it.

Well written (as always), some plot lines that are easy to see where they'll go next (as usual)...but I really like the way Ms. Picoult show more ended this one....with a subject as emotionally charged as the existence of God, she managed to find an inspired way to escort the reader from Faith's life. show less