June book: Faithful by Alice Hoffman

Faithful

by Alice Hoffman

(discussion led by TG)





Some background links to get you started:

• Faithful | Book by Alice Hoffman | Official Publisher Page | Simon ...
• Faithful by Alice Hoffman — goodreads
• Synopsis - Alice Hoffman (author's website)
• Alice Hoffman's Heroine Seeks Redemption After a Car Crash (NYT)
• Faithful review: Alice Hoffman's emotionally subtle tale of redemption (SMH)
• Alice Hoffman's luminous 'Faithful' pulls the reader in ...(Seattle Times)
• Faithful - USA Today
• Review: 'Faithful,' by Alice Hoffman - StarTribune.com

What we discussed about the book:

• The themes of redemption and making your own family
• Did Shelby make choices or did life make them for her? 
• The writing style and the devices used
• The rawness and sparseness of the lanaguage - what was the effect of that? How did it move the story along? 
• The interactions with Marvelle and the kids - what did that show about Shelby?
• Was teh power of the postcards in the idea of them rather than the actuality? 
• What role did Helene play? Was she a vehicle to outwardly reflect Sheby's inner guilt?
• Was this a book about religion?
• Who was 'faithful' to Shelby? Who was she faithful to? 
• What was the role of the tattooed girl in the bookshop?
• Which (if any) characters did we empathise with and why? 
• What did Shelby look like?

Then we were distracted to discuss: 

• Why are we so polarised in our experience of this book - lovers vs haters? (as reflected in ratings)
• Do you need to have personal experience of dysfunction in order for a portrayal of it to resonate?
• The idea of one moment where a life changes course permanently

And in other news we chatted about: 

• OAMs, AMs, etc - what is the Australian award system all about? What do you need to do to get one? Do the right people get them?
• The pleasures and perils of new puppies
• The quote 'life just grows around your wound' - what does this mean? 

Ratings
Range: 2 to 9
Average: 6.19