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KEEPING FAITH

KEEPING FAITH
If you like KEEPING FAITH, you’ll also like CHANGE OF HEART and SONGS OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE

About the book

You don’t believe in god.
But your daughter is talking to angels.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

When Mariah White catches her husband with another woman, her life starts to fall apart. And when her daughter, Faith, begins to confide in an imaginary friend, her own brush with insanity starts to take on a darker meaning.

Then Faith appears to start performing miracles, and all at once the situation is spiralling beyond Mariah’s control. Is Faith truly seeing God? Or is she just a troubled little girl seeking refuge from her parents’ divorce? And is Mariah fighting for what’s best for her child? Or a desperate mother using her daughter to get the world’s attention?

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A Conversation with Jodi About KEEPING FAITH

"One day, when my oldest son was five, we were playing on the driveway. I watched him bike up and down a gradual hill, circling back to me. Those were the days when Kyle was full of questions – where do school buses sleep at night? Do dogs dream? How does a radio work? - and that afternoon was no different. “Mommy,” Kyle said, coming up to me on his bicycle, “What’s God?”

That was a loaded question. Like many people of my generation, faith was a tricky road for me. I had dozens of friends who had gone to church as children…but now, as adults, didn’t. They wanted their kids to have some sort of religious cornerstone…but felt hypocritical attending for the sake of the kids, when they weren’t sure they wanted to go themselves. For me, the situation was even murkier. I had been raised by a non-practicing Jewish family; I married a WASP who could trace his roots to the Mayflower. We didn’t go to church or temple. We’d decided that when our children started asking questions, we’d tell them both of our answers…in the hopes that one day they could make the decision to believe whatever they wished.

I turned to Kyle and tried to come up with the most secular explanation for God that I could summon. “Well,” I told him. “God lives up in Heaven, and He watches over all of us, to make sure that we’re okay.”

He thought about this for a second. “Kind of like a babysitter?” he asked.

“Exactly.”

Kyle frowned. “But all of my babysitters,” he said, “are girls.”

It was a curious distinction …but a really intriguing one. In spite of the nurturing aspect that is often attributed to God, there seemed to be very little connection between femininity and divinity. I started to mull over this – and came up with the story of Faith White – a little girl who may or may not be seeing God…but who definitely envisions her special friend as female.

Let me tell you, it’s not an easy thing to write about God. In the first place, I certainly don’t have all the answers. In the second, you are bound to offend someone. I decided that if I was going to go about this religiously, as it were, I was going to have to interview chaplains of all faiths. I met first with an Episcopal priest who recounted being a child, and hearing evangelical ministers come to preach under tents on the plains. Then I sat down with a wonderful elderly priest, who had a curiosity and a sense of humor that I still remember fondly. When I asked him why Catholics were the only ones who saw the Virgin Mary in subway puddles, he grinned and said that’s a terrific question. When I asked about Jews not going to Heaven because they didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah, he told me they were “grandfathered” in because Christianity was grafted onto the tree of Judaism.My final interview was with a rabbi affiliated with a local college. It was the only time in fifteen years of research that I’ve ever been tossed out of anyone’s office. He looked at me and said, “If you’re going to write this book, you better go to rabbinical school…or you’re going to perpetuate mistruths that have dogged Judaism for 5000 years!” He wound up getting fired a week later by the college…so I think he was just having a bad run of luck. However, I needed to find myself a spokesperson for the Jewish religion – and I had the excellent fortune to meet up with a woman who had grown up Catholic, converted to Judaism, and become a rabbi. She also was a lesbian. Here’s someone who’s got to be open-minded, I thought – and she was. In fact, some of my favorite facts in KEEPING FAITH came straight from her, as she showed me examples from the Talmud where God has a feminine slant.

When I wrote KEEPING FAITH, I wanted to look not at religion…but at belief. At how we can be spiritual without being religious. It is awfully hard to talk about religion without drawing a line in the sand…classifying “us” and “them” based on beliefs – but that’s exactly why I thought this book was so important. What if what you believed wasn’t as important as that you believed? What if we were all able to entertain someone else’s point of view about God? I like to believe this world would be a better, safer, more tolerant place.

I still don’t have all the answers about God – I don’t think any of us will, until it’s too late for us to be able to share them. However, I do think that it’s important to bring up the discussion and to remember that it’s just that – a discussion, and not a lecture. To this end, I’m hoping to return to this subject matter for my 2008 book – which will examine, in part, whether Messiahs are born or made."

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Book Club Discussion Questions

  1. Much is said in the story about Mariah not being a good mother. Do you think this is valid? Does Faith think she is a good mother? Is motherhood truly a "work in progress", as Millie describes it?
  2. In the early pages of the first chapter, Mariah describes her marriage as perfect, yet moments after she and Faith discover Colin with another woman, Mariah says, "Oh God, it is happening again."Are there other indications in the story that Mariah refuses to see the truth that is right in front of her?
  3. Mariah makes miniature dream houses, and Colin makes Exit signs. Are there similar clues to other characters' personalities through their career choices?
  4. Colin's indiscretion brings on Faith's anger. Soon after, Faith has her first vision. Do you think there is a psychological basis for the appearance of Faith's "Guard"? Why do you think Faith was "chosen"?
  5. As you read the story, did you trust Ian Fletcher? Discuss his multi-leveled personality: Harvard educated, yet working for a "trash"TV show, he's hiding as much in his life as he uncovers in others. What is he so afraid of? What is he trying to prove?
  6. Discuss Faith's first image of her "Guard."How does it compare to your own first image of God?
  7. Faith is seven years old, called the "age of reason"in the Catholic religion. It is the age of the first confession. Do you think Faith is old enough to know what is happening to her? As you read, did you think that she was directing what was happening?
  8. Why is religion so difficult for some people to discuss? Would this story be different if it took place in the South or any other part of the country?
  9. Millie Epstein says, "I always wondered why God was supposed to be a father. Fathers always want you to measure up to something. Mothers are the ones who love you unconditionally."Do you feel this is true? Discuss the connection between religion and family.
  10. What most concerns the clergy who examine Faith: the fact that she is Jewish, the assertion that she is spouting heresy, or the fact that she sees God as a woman?
  11. Why do you think that almost every adult who examines Faith thinks at some point that it's all a hoax, one that Mariah is behind? What do you think the author is saying about faith and about truth?
  12. How big a role does the media play in the public's response to Faith? Does the public's right to know justify broaching Faith's privacy?
  13. What is the difference between religion and spirituality? Does Faith have more of one than the other?
  14. There is a shift throughout the narrative from third person to first person (Mariah's voice). One would think we'd learn more about Mariah from the latter, but is this true? Do we learn more from what she tells us, or from what her actions show us?
  15. At what moment does Mariah begin to believe in Faith? How about Millie? Ian? Dr. Keller? Who must take the greatest leap of faith?
  16. Mariah says, "You can't be a mother, can you, if your child is taken away."As you read, who did you want to win custody of Faith?
  17. There are two mother-daughter sets in this book: Faith and Mariah, and Mariah and Millie. Discuss Millie. What are some of the good things Mariah learned from her? Some of the bad things? In the beginning of the story they seem to be very different people. Is this true at the end?
  18. Kenzie says: "The issue in this custody hearing is where the best home is for Faith. That doesn't leave a lot of room for God."Do you agree?
  19. Did you read the book as fiction or nonfiction?
  20. Does the Catholic Church have the right to examine Faith, a Jewish girl?
  21. If God were to appear in 1999, would He intervene, or observe?
  22. Toward the end of the story, Mariah is tugged across the yard by an exuberant Faith, "following in her daughter's footsteps."Who did you learn the most from in the story? Who is the main character of the book: Mariah? Faith? God?


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Reviews

‘Jodi Picoult is not one to shy away from fictional controversy; in fact, the more tangled and messy a moral dilemma appears, the better she likes it.’
Daily Mail

‘Picoult has been incredibly successful in dissecting the pain that family members go through when faced with sensitive and emotive issues'
Daily Express

'Picoult, once again, grabs a razor-sharp issue and uses her brilliantly intricate pen to expose all the shades of grey with PERFECTION'
Cosmopolitan

'Addictively readable, raising valid questions about religion without getting maudlin. For a novel, that in itself is a miracle'
Entertainment Weekly

'Picoult offers a perfectly pitched take on the great mysteries of the heart'
Kirkus Reviews

'Jodi Picoult's novels often focus on lives turned upside down by some terrible event, and it's her way with the small emotional detail that makes them so rewarding'
Marie Claire

'Another fascinating and engrossing read by Picoult’
Closer

‘Picoult fans will not be disappointed. There is the usual compulsive writing, the insight into family and colourful characterisation . . . a pleasure to pick up, and impossible to put down’
Daily Express

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