"Faith," by Jennifer Haigh

I am finding it very difficult to write about the novel “Faith” (Harper, 2011), by Jennifer Haigh (author of “Mrs. Kimble,” which I liked), because of the enormity and horror of its topic: child molestation by priests. To be more specific, Haigh writes about the accusation of the main character, Art, of child molestation; we don’t find out whether the accusation is justified until near the end of the novel. The novel’s narrator is Sheila, Art’s sister, and she writes about the difficult family history, the pain the accusation costs the family, the complex personalities involved, and the complicated web of people and relationships and events surrounding them. It seems it would be hard to write about all this without seeming to exploit this explosive topic, but Haigh writes sensitively and thoughtfully. Of course I can’t presume to know how reading this novel would feel to someone who had a personal connection to the topic. I feel I can’t write any more without revealing too much of the twists and turns and complications of the story -- and there are some surprises -- so I will stop here.