Faith

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

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.

March 1, 2011

The scandal regarding the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests continues on its ugly way, and Haigh (The Condition) doesn't make it any easier for us: she's written a novel that questions the guilt of a priest so charged. When older half-brother Art is accused of abusing a boy whose wayward mother he's tried to help, Sheila McGann returns to the suffocating Irish American home and community in Boston she had fled. Art has been shunned by the family, particularly brother Mike, who has several children and a cold, judgmental wife. To Sheila's horror, Mike condemns Art out of hand, even as he gets uncomfortably involved with the woman who has brought the suit against him. Beyond Art's denial, Sheila herself can't get him to articulate what really happened. VERDICT Initially, the story is told more blandly than one would expect from the fine Haigh, and the idea crawls uncomfortably around the reader's mind that she's soft-soaping the issue. By the end, though, the narrative is emotionally involving and ethically concise, reminding us that things are not always as they seem and that we must consider carefully how we judge others. Most fiction readers will want. [See Prepub Alert, 11/15/10.]--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2010

Haigh's The Condition was an especially clear-eyed and sensitive portrait of the alienation wrought by a serious medical issue. So I have high hopes for her handling of the controversy surrounding child abuse by Catholic priests. Estranged from her Irish American family, Sheila McGann nevertheless returns home to Boston when her brother Art, a popular priest, is caught up in the scandal. She wants to defend him, but her oblivious mother, accusatory brother, and Art himself, who remains silent, all conspire against her. A real thought-provoker for book clubs; with a 150,000-copy first printing and an eight-city tour.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2011

A non-sensationalized novel about an inherently sensational event--the abuse of an 8-year-old boy by a priest.

Haigh hands over most of the narrative burden to Sheila McGann, half-sister of Art Breen, who for over 25 years has been a good man and a respected parish priest in the Boston area. Just before Easter, however, the diocese abruptly removes him from his duties and establishes him in an apartment until it completes an investigation into an allegation that he's abused Aidan, a boy he is obviously fond of and has become emotionally attached to. Aidan's mother is Kath, a drug- and man-addicted young woman whose credibility is problematic at best. (One logical suspicion is that Kevin, her egregiously addled boyfriend, might be putting her up to this accusation to secure easy money in light of recent scandals in the Church.) While Sheila has faith in Art's innocence, her other brother, Mike, is not so sure. Mike's situation is complicated by his marriage to Abby, a Lutheran who believes almost everything is wrong in the Catholic Church. Haigh moves seamlessly from Sheila's reminiscence of growing up Catholic in Boston (though she's since lost the faith) to a more neutral and objective third-person account of events that relentlessly unfold and seem to implicate Art.

Haigh deals with complex moral issues in subtle ways, and her narrative is beautifully, sometimes achingly poignant.

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Starred review from April 1, 2011
Father Arthur Breen has devoted his entire career as a priest in Bostons South Shore community to a life of quiet but determined faith, enthusiastically serving his parishioners while unobtrusively placating his superiors in the Catholic hierarchy. Only marginally involved with his own familydevout mother, alcoholic stepfather, go-getter half-brother, and contemplative half-sisterBreen takes an instant shine to eight-year-old Aidan, the emotionally fragile son of the rectorys housekeeper, and makes tentative arrangements to help Aidans newly clean-and-sober mother, Kath, start a new life. So when a sex abuse scandal rocks the Boston archdiocese, everyone is shocked, though no one is exactly surprised, to learn that Kath has accused Father Breen of harming Aidan. Looking back on the tragedy, Breens sister Sheila chronicles the events leading up to and beyond the incident, revealing a family shattered by profound secrets. With an exquisite sense of drama and mystery, Haigh delivers a taut, well-crafted tale that potently but subtly explores myriad gray areas within essential issues of truth and trust, punishment and absolution. Indelibly rendered characters, suspenseful pacing, and fearless but sensitive handling of a controversial subject will make this a must-read for book discussion groups.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)