Faith & The Pioneer Spirit

Just finished Faith by Jennifer Haigh. Briefly, it is about the sex scandal in the Catholic church and the fall-out. This intrigued me because of the comments made in interviews in a book I read last year, "Being Catholic Now." Lots of moral comments, made from publically immoral people, about how the church handled things and the outrage that was felt. There is some discussion about church politics (and wow, were the priests accused really hung out to dry in such an infamous manner?!)  but the real depth of this book is about family legacies, systems, fear, and petty thieves (both religious and criminal) preying on others.
This is really the story of a priest who himself was molested as a child. He laid down his life to secure a brighter future for another lost boy and in doing so, created a richer legacy for his siblings as well.
Haigh's ability to create believable characters, characters like us, who love and are disappointed and confused, and hope for love that satisfies rings true throughout the pages.
A beautiful story about redemption through sacrifice. In the end, the priest cared for his people, loved his tribe well and gave all that he had. A really lovely, believable story.

 

The kids and I also finished These Happy Golden Years and the First Four Years. Jeez Louise. If you ever feel like life is 1 step forward, 2 back, read this book and you'll feel much gratitude for the life you have. I love.LOVE. Laura's writing. It is simple and straightforward and sweet. I've read these books at least 6-8 times and each time another aspect of the family and gender roles and the American West stands out to me. We're now reading The Way Home, which seems so very real to us because they traveled within 20 miles of our home, on their way to the Big Red Apple.
And yes, I'm counting the series under my 52 books for the year.