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Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
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Reader Rating: (59 ratings)
Detailed Rating: "Writing Style" See All
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- Pub. Date: February 2006
- ISBN-13: 9780060878061
- Sales Rank: 3,184
- 448pp
- Series: P.S.
Synopsis
When the marriage of Mariah White and her cheating husband, Colin, turns ugly and disintegrates, their seven-year-old daughter, Faith, is there to witness it all. In the aftermath of a rapid divorce, Mariah falls into a deep depression—and suddenly Faith, a child with no religious background whatsoever, hears divine voices, starts reciting biblical passages, and develops stigmata. And when the miraculous healings begin, mother and daughter are thrust into the volatile center of controversy and into the heat of a custody battle—trapped in a mad media circus that threatens what little stability the family has left.
In Keeping Faith, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult—one of the most powerful writers in contemporary fiction—brilliantly examines belief, miracles, and the complex core of family.
Entertainment Weekly
In a small town in New Hampshire something funny happens to a 7-year-old girl when her parents split up: she starts spouting Bible verses and seeing God. Given that the little girl - named, appropriately enough, Faith - hasn't been raised in a religious household, it a little weird. Then inexplicable things begin happening: Faith's grandmother goes into cardiac arrest and is resurrected in perfect health, and Faith starts bleeding from both palms. Soon enough, religious junkies begin flocking to her home, and Faith's horrified father sues for custody. Such a plot could easily fall into the realm of gothic melodrama, but instead it's addictively readable, raising valid questions about religion without getting maudlin. For a novel, that in itself is a miracle.
More Reviews and RecommendationsBiography
Known for expertly blending provocative themes with family conflicts and difficult moral choices, Jodi Picoult keeps her readers riveted with heartfelt yet impeccably researched novels, like the richly suspenseful Second Glance and the poignant and controversial family drama My Sister's Keeper.
More About the AuthorCustomer Reviews
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- Ratings: 59Reviews: 35
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Good but not a favoriteby Innovative_educator
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December 09, 2008: I love Jodi Picoult, and while I really enjoyed Keeping Faith, I would recommend some of her other books--Nineteen Minutes, The Pact, My Sister's Keeper--over this one. While the characters were enjoyable to read about, the plot was a bit overdrawn for me. Overall, it was a good read, but it's not one of Picoult's that I would recommend over others.
One of my favorite Picoult'sby KLOLeary
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November 28, 2008: I loved this story! How the author keeps you guessing about the authenticity until the very end of the book is incredible. She makes you come to your own conclusions as you read, and allows this book to be enjoyed by people of any 'faith'.
Fact File
Name:
Jodi Picoult
Current Home:
Hanover, New Hampshire
Date of Birth:
May 19, 1966
Place of Birth:
New York, New York
Education:
A.B. in Creative Writing, Princeton University; M.A. in Education, Harvard University
Awards:
New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, 2003; Romance Writers of America, “Best Mainstream Fiction Novel” (forSecond Glance), 2003
Biography
Born on Long Island, New York, Jodi Picoult was convinced that the tranquil, suburban setting offered no real inspiration to her for being a writer. There was no drama; just the daily grind of families living their lives. Eventually, though, the story of this challenge became the core of Picoult's bestselling novels.
Picoult studied creative writing at Princeton, and before she graduated, she had two short stories published in Seventeen magazine. This early success inspired Picoult to devote her life to writing. After college, she paid the bills with a series of copywriting and editing jobs, and she even taught eighth grade English. Marriage and children soon followed, and while she was pregnant with her first child, she wrote her first novel, Songs of the Humpback Whale, a remarkable tale told from five different points of view that heralded a bold new voice in fiction.
In subsequent novels -- including phenomenal bestsellers like My Sister's Keeper (2004) and Nineteen Minutes (2007) -- Picoult has mined the complex mysteries of everyday life: love, marriage, career, family. Faced with difficult, often painful moral choices, her characters struggle to find balance in an off-kilter world fraught with danger and shattered by terrible sociological ills like domestic violence, sexual abuse, and teen suicide. Though page-turners of the highest order, Picoult's stories avoid easy solutions and provoke thoughtful reading and animated discussion. Unsurprisingly, they are a favorite choice for book clubs.
From her web site, Picoult talks about the relationship between her family and her writing. "It took me a while to find the balance," Picoult says, "but I'm a better mother because I have my writing ... and I'm a better writer because of the experiences I've had as a parent that continually remind me how far we are willing to go for the people we love the most."Good to Know
"I've gone skydiving," she told us, "and I'd do it again -- if I didn't have kids.
Picoult and her family own two Jersey calves, named Decalf and Coffee.
On her official web site, Picoult reveals some fun and fascinating facts about herself, including:
Before becoming a novelist, Picoult worked at a two-person ad agency, where her main responsibility was "to keep the owner's wife from finding out he was sleeping with the freelance art director."
If she could invite anyone, living or dead, to a dinner party, Picoult's guest list would include Ernest Hemingway, Alice Hoffman, William Shakespeare, Mel Gibson, and Emeril Lagasse.
Other than writing, other talents of Picoult's include making Linzer tortes and broccoli soup, and childbirth. "I'm awfully good at giving birth -- quickly, no drugs, etc. -- though that definitely has a limited appeal," she quips.
Feature Interview
In the summer of 2004, Jodi Picoult took some time to talk with us about some of her favorite books, authors, and interests.
What was the book that most influenced your life or your career as a writer -- and why?
Gone With The Wind. I read it when I was twelve --I was a total dork, and memorized huge sweeping dialogues I could act out as both Scarlett and Rhett. But what stuck with me was the way Margaret Mitchell managed to create an entire world out of words. I thought, "I want to do that."
What are your favorite books, and what makes them special to you?
What are some of your favorite films, and what makes them unforgettable to you?
I was a sucker for Titanic -- I'd wake up for days after that, still thinking about the movie.
What types of music do you like? Is there any particular kind you like to listen to when you're writing?
Music is like Kryptonite for me, while I'm working -- I just can't listen to it and function creatively. However, I must have music blasting in my car. My favorite singer is Aimee Mann -- she's a songwriter with the heart of a poet. I also like Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Counting Crows, Ben Jelen, Howie Day, Shaun Colvin, Tori Amos, John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Mozart, and the Shrek soundtracks!
What are your favorite kinds of books to give -- and get -- as gifts?
Fiction. There's just nothing like a great novel -- it's an escape and a journey all wrapped up in one neat package.
Do you have any special writing rituals?
When I'm writing, I usually just park myself in my chair and write. I'll do it for hours at a time; my husband is fabulous enough to ferry me coffee or snacks during the day. My desk is usually a mess, covered with post-its and emails. On the hutch above my desk are five sterling silver letters: W, R, I, T, E -- so I don't forget what I'm supposed to be doing there, I guess. I have pictures of my children all over the place, and one of my husband and me in a hammock. And there are two fortune-cookie fortunes taped to my computer: "Be satisfied with one chapter at a time," and "Live a life that will give you great stories to tell." How cool are those?!
Many writers are hardly "overnight success" stories. How long did it take for you to get where you are today?
This year, when My Sister's Keeper reached number 11 on the New York Times bestseller list, a reporter asked me if it was my breakout book. I said that if it was, I had the slowest breakout on the planet. It's really been years of growing an audience, and having them pass the word along to their friends. Like many writers, it took me a long time to find an agent. I got hundreds of rejections, and finally, a woman who was just starting her own literary agency business said she believed she could represent me -- and I liked and trusted her. We've been together ever since. One of my favorite stories, however, involves a very high-powered, well-known literary agent who called my publicist a year ago. She wanted to fly me to New York for lunch, to "talk" about changing representation. I declined politely -- I was quite happy with my current agent, I said. And I'm quite sure this woman didn't remember that she was the very first agent to reject me 15 years ago, either!
What tips or advice do you have for writers still looking to be discovered?
Hang in there. Part of the battle is being one of the few still standing at the end. If you refuse to give up, eventually someone will take a second look at you and wonder why you think you're so good... and often a second look is all it takes.
What else would you like your readers to know?
When I'm not writing, I'm usually being a mom. I have three kids. Kyle's 13, a terrific pianist and a fencer; Jake is an 11 year old hockey goalie; and Sammy (Samantha) is 9, and -- go figure -- loves to write. If I am alone in the house and can convince myself not to work, you'll find me in the kitchen -- baking. Last year I took up ice hockey, which was pretty interesting because I don't know how to stop on hockey skates -- and this summer, I've been kayaking. My favorite place on earth is Australia -- Perth, if you want to be specific. And I'd probably eat anything that was covered in chocolate.
From the Publisher
When the marriage of Mariah White and her cheating husband, Colin, turns ugly and disintegrates, their seven-year-old daughter, Faith, is there to witness it all. In the aftermath of a rapid divorce, Mariah falls into a deep depression—and suddenly Faith, a child with no religious background whatsoever, hears divine voices, starts reciting biblical passages, and develops stigmata. And when the miraculous healings begin, mother and daughter are thrust into the volatile center of controversy and into the heat of a custody battle—trapped in a mad media circus that threatens what little stability the family has left.
In Keeping Faith, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult—one of the most powerful writers in contemporary fiction—brilliantly examines belief, miracles, and the complex core of family.
Entertainment Weekly
In a small town in New Hampshire something funny happens to a 7-year-old girl when her parents split up: she starts spouting Bible verses and seeing God. Given that the little girl - named, appropriately enough, Faith - hasn't been raised in a religious household, it a little weird. Then inexplicable things begin happening: Faith's grandmother goes into cardiac arrest and is resurrected in perfect health, and Faith starts bleeding from both palms. Soon enough, religious junkies begin flocking to her home, and Faith's horrified father sues for custody. Such a plot could easily fall into the realm of gothic melodrama, but instead it's addictively readable, raising valid questions about religion without getting maudlin. For a novel, that in itself is a miracle.
Detroit Free Press
The Pact is so good that we can't put it down.
Publishers Weekly
Fans of Picoult's fluent and absorbing storytelling will welcome her new novel, which, like Harvesting the Heart, 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 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. (May)
Library Journal
When seven-year-old Faith White and her mother, Mariah, swing by the house on the way to ballet class, they find that Daddy is home and he's brought a playmate. This is not the first time he's been caught cheating. After the fuss and feathers have settled and Dad has moved out, Faith begins talking to an imaginary friend who, it seems, is God. And God is not male but female. Faith is able to effect miraculous cures and is also occasionally afflicted with stigmata. When the media gets wind of this, the circus begins. The local rabbi takes an interest (Faith and Mariah are technically Jewish), and the local Catholic priest pays several inquiring visits. There is also a gaggle of psychologists. Throw in a professional atheist for the romance angle and a vicious custody fight with an egomaniacal lawyer, and you have a riveting read. Picot (The Pact, LJ 2/15/98) gets better and better with each book. If you can suspend disbelief on one or two points, this is an entrancing novel. Highly recommended.--Dawn L. Anderson, North Richland Hills P.L., TX
People Magazine
Picoult has the remarkable ability to make us share her characters' feelings.
Detroit Free Press
The Pact is so good that we can't put it down.
USA Today - Deirdre Donahue
Nowadays, the bookshop shelves graon with tales about stylish fol liviing urban lives, simply marinating in glib sophistication, ironic asides and urban angst. But perhaps you're the kind of reader who finds that bicoastal attitude superficial perhaps you crave the sincere and accessible exploration of likes biggest issues such as 'Does God exist?'...This story makes you wonder about God. And that is a rare moment,indeed, in modern fiction.
Kirkus Reviews
A sweetly affirmative portrait of mother-daughter love that explores big questions while also providing a riveting narrative of a custody battle.
Loading...Product Details
- ISBN:
0060878061
- ISBN-13: 9780060878061
- Format: Paperback, 448pp
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- Pub. Date: February 2006
- Sales Rank: 3,184
- Series: P.S.
Reading Group Guide
Plot SummaryThe White family has just been broken apart by divorce. Seven-year-old Faith finds a friend to see her through - a friend who may or may not be imaginary. What if a little girl with no religious background starts to have talks with God, perform miracles , and develop stigmata? As it builds toward a climactic custody battle, Keeping Faith explores a family beseiged by the media, the medical profession, and organized religion in a world where everyone has an opinion but no one knows the truth.
Topics for Discussion
About the Author: Jodi Picoult is the author of The Pact and six other critically acclaimed novels. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, two sons, and daughter.
Read an Excerpt
Keeping FaithA Novel
Chapter One
Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.
— John Milton, Paradise Lost
There are certain things I do not talk about.
Like when I was thirteen, and I had to take my dog and have her put to sleep. Or the time in high school that I got all dressed up for the prom and sat by the window, waiting for a boy who never came. Or the way I felt when I first met Colin.
Well, I talk a little about that, but I don't admit that from the beginning I knew we were not meant to be together. Colin was a college football star; I'd been hired by his coach to tutor him to pass French. He kissed me- shy, plain, scholarly—on a dare from his teammates, and even muddled by embarrassment, it left me feeling gilded.
It is perfectly clear to me why I fell in love with Colin. But I have never understood what made him fall for me.
He told me that when he was with me, he became someone different-a person he liked better than the easygoing jock, the good ol' fraternity boy. He told me that I made him feel admired for what he was instead of what he'd done. I argued that I wasn't a match for him, not tall or stunning or sophisticated enough. And when he disagreed, I made myself believe him.
I don't talk about what happened five years later, when I was proved right.
I don't talk about the way he could not look me in the eye while he was arranging to have me locked away.
Opening my eyes is a Herculean effort, Swollen and grainy, they seem resolved to stay sealed shut, preferring not to risk the sight of something elsethat might turn the world on end. But there is a hand on my arm, and for all I know it might be Colin, so I manage to slit them enough that the light, sharp as a splinter, comes into view. "Mariah", my mother soothes, smoothing my hair back from my forehead. "You feeling better?"
"No." I am not feeling anything. Whatever Dr. Johansen prescribed over the phone makes it seem as if there's a foam cushion three inches thick around me, a barrier that moves with me and flexes and manages to keep the worst away.
"Well, it's time to get moving," my mother says, matter-of-fact. She leans forward and tries to haul me from the bed.
"I don't want to take a shower." I try to curl into a ball.
"Neither do I." My mother grunts. The last time she'd come into the room, it was to drag me into the bathroom and under a cold spray of water. "You're going to sit up, damn it, if it sends me to an early grave."
That makes me think of her coffin table, and of the ballet lesson Faith and I never did manage to get to three days ago. I pull away from her grasp and cover my face, fresh tears running like wax. "What is the matter with me?"
"Absolutely nothing, in spite of what that cretin wants you to believe." My mother puts her hands on my burning cheeks. "This is not your fault, Mariah. This isn't something you could have stopped before it happened. Colin isn't worth the ground he walks on." She spits on the carpet, to prove it. "Now sit up so that I can bring Faith in here."
That gets my attention. "She can't see me like this."
"So, change."
"It's not that easy-"
"Yes, it is," my mother insists. "It's not just you this time, Mariah. You want to fall apart? Fine, then-do it after you've seen Faith. You know I'm right, or you wouldn't have called me to come over here and take care of her three days ago." Staring at me, she softens her voice. "She's got an idiot for a father, and she's got you. You make what you want of that."
For a second I let hope sneak through the cracks in my armor. "Did she ask for me?"
My mother hesitates. "No ... but that's neither here nor there." As she goes to get Faith, I adjust the pillows behind my back and wipe my face with a corner of the comforter. My daughter enters the room, propelled by my mother's hand. She stops two feet from the bed. "Hi," I say, bright as any actress.
For a moment I just delight in seeing her—the crooked part of her hair, the space where her front tooth used to be, the chipped pink Tinkerbell polish on her fingernails. She folds her arms and sets her colt's legs and mulishly presses her beautiful bow of a mouth into a flat line.
"Want to sit down?" I pat the mattress beside me.
She doesn't answer; she barely even breathes. With a sharp pain I realize that I know exactly what she's doing, because I've done it myself: You convince yourself that if you keep perfectly still, if you don't make any sudden moves, neither will anyone else. "Faith . .
I reach out my hand, but she turns and walks out of the room.
Part of me wants to follow her, but a larger part of me can't muster the courage. "She's still not talking. Why?"
"You're her mother. You find out."
But I can't. If I have learned anything, it is my own limits. I turn onto my side and close my eyes, hoping that my mother will get the hint that I just want her to go away.
"You'll see," she says quietly, laying her hand on top of my head. "Faith is going to get you through...
Keeping FaithA Novel. Copyright © by Jodi Picoult. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.
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