Faith

Starred review from February 21, 2011
Haigh (Mrs. Kimble) explores the intersections of public scandal and personal tragedy in her superb fourth novel. Set in 2002 amid the sexual abuse crisis that has rocked the Catholic Church, and particularly the Boston archdiocese, Haigh's novel reaches far beneath the headlines to imagine the impact of allegations on one priest's family. Arthur Breen became a priest when such a career path was considered a logical, honorable choice for an intelligent young Catholic man. Sophisticated and worldly in many ways, utterly childlike in others, Arthur is unprepared to cope with secular life when he's accused of abusing a young boy and is subsequently asked to leave his parish. Arthur's younger half-sister, Sheila, in a quasi-omniscient style, narrates the complicated, devastating history that shaped Arthur's life, both personally and spiritually. Although this all-too-plausible story offers a damning commentary on the Church's flaws and its leaders' hubris, Haigh is concerned less with religious faith than with the faith Arthur's family has—and loses, and in some cases regains—in one another. At its broadest, this is a frank and timely story of familial and institutional heredity; at its most personal, the novel is a devastating portrait of a priest who discovers that he's also a man.

As members of the Catholic priesthood continue to be accused of sexual abuse, the author examines the effects of these accusations on the families and friends of the priests alleged to have committed such acts. This first-person narrative, from the point of view of Sheila McGann, sister of one such priest, is masterfully narrated by Therese Plummer. Plummer excels at narration that is emotional without being mawkish. While raising the question of whether or not Sheila's brother is guilty, the novel also raises issues of faith in God and in one another. Plummer's strong narration lends further weight to Haigh's story, creating an audio experience listeners will want to immerse themselves in. J.L.K. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine