Fiction, Peoples & Cultures - Fiction
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Overview
For the second time in her marriage, Mariah White catches her husband with another woman, and Faith, their seven-year-old daughter, witnesses every painful minute. In the aftermath of a sudden divorce, Mariah struggles with depression and Faith seeks solace in a new friend - a friend who may or may not be imaginary. Faith talks to her "Guard" constantly and begins to recite passages from the Bible - a book she's never read. Fearful for her daughter's sanity, Mariah sends her to several psychiatrists. Yet when Faith develops stigmata and begins to perform miraculous healings, Mariah wonders if her daughter - a girl with no religious background - might indeed be seeing God. As word spreads and controversy heightens, Mariah and Faith are besieged by believers and disbelievers alike; they are caught in a media circus that threatens what little stability they have left. What are you willing to believe? Is Faith a prophet or a troubled little girl? Is Mariah a good mother facing an impossible crisis ... or a charlatan using her daughter to reclaim the attention her unfaithful husband withheld? As the story builds to a climactic battle for custody, Mariah must discover that spirit is not necessarily something that comes from religion but from inside oneself.Synopsis
One of America's most powerful and thought-provoking novelists, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult brilliantly examines belief, miracles, and the complex core of family. When the marriage of Mariah White and her cheating husband, Colin, turns ugly and disintegrates, their seven-year- old daughter, Faith, is there to witness it all. In the aftermath of a rapid divorce, Mariah falls into a deep depression—and suddenly Faith, a child with no religious background whatsoever, hears divine voices, starts reciting biblical passages, and develops stigmata. And when the miraculous healings begin, mother and daughter are thrust into the volatile center of controversy and into the heat of a custody battle—trapped in a mad media circus that threatens what little stability the family has left.
Detroit Free Press
The Pact is so good that we can't put it down.
Editorials
Detroit Free Press
The Pact is so good that we can't put it down.Entertainment Weekly
In a small town in New Hampshire something funny happens to a 7-year-old girl when her parents split up: she starts spouting Bible verses and seeing God. Given that the little girl - named, appropriately enough, Faith - hasn't been raised in a religious household, it a little weird. Then inexplicable things begin happening: Faith's grandmother goes into cardiac arrest and is resurrected in perfect health, and Faith starts bleeding from both palms. Soon enough, religious junkies begin flocking to her home, and Faith's horrified father sues for custody. Such a plot could easily fall into the realm of gothic melodrama, but instead it's addictively readable, raising valid questions about religion without getting maudlin. For a novel, that in itself is a miracle.Publishers Weekly
Fans of Picoult's fluent and absorbing storytelling will welcome her new novel, which, like Harvesting the Heart, explores family dynamics and the intricacies of motherhood, and concludes, as did The Pact, with tense courtroom drama. In the small town of New Canaan, N.H., 33-year-old Mariah discovers that her husband, Colin, is having an affair. Years ago, his cheating drove Mariah to attempt suicide and Colin had her briefly committed to an institution. Now Mariah's facing divorce and again fighting depression, when her eight-year-old daughter, Faith, suddenly acquires an imaginary friend. Soon this friend is telling the girl how to bring her grandmother back from the dead and how to cure a baby dying of AIDS. As Faith manifests stigmata, doctors are astounded, and religious controversy ensues, in part because Faith insists that God is a woman. An alarmed Colin sues for custody of Faith, and the fear of losing her daughter dramatically changes meek, diffident Mariah into a strong, protective and brave woman--one who fights for her daughter, holds her own against doctors and lawyers and finds the confidence to pursue a surprising new romance with TV atheist Ian Fletcher, cynical "Spokesman of the Millennium Generation." Though the novel feels a bit long, Picoult's pacing stabilizes the increasingly complicated plot, and the final chapters, in which Mariah fights for Faith's custody in court, are riveting. The mother-daughter relationship is all the more powerful for being buffeted by the exploitative and ethically questionable domains of medicine, media, law and religion; these characters' many triumphant transformations are Picoult's triumphs as well. Agent, Laura Gross. (May)Library Journal
When seven-year-old Faith White and her mother, Mariah, swing by the house on the way to ballet class, they find that Daddy is home and he's brought a playmate. This is not the first time he's been caught cheating. After the fuss and feathers have settled and Dad has moved out, Faith begins talking to an imaginary friend who, it seems, is God. And God is not male but female. Faith is able to effect miraculous cures and is also occasionally afflicted with stigmata. When the media gets wind of this, the circus begins. The local rabbi takes an interest (Faith and Mariah are technically Jewish), and the local Catholic priest pays several inquiring visits. There is also a gaggle of psychologists. Throw in a professional atheist for the romance angle and a vicious custody fight with an egomaniacal lawyer, and you have a riveting read. Picot (The Pact, LJ 2/15/98) gets better and better with each book. If you can suspend disbelief on one or two points, this is an entrancing novel. Highly recommended.--Dawn L. Anderson, North Richland Hills P.L., TXDetroit Free Press
The Pact is so good that we can't put it down.People Magazine
Picoult has the remarkable ability to make us share her characters' feelings.Deirdre Donahue
Nowadays, the bookshop shelves graon with tales about stylish fol liviing urban lives, simply marinating in glib sophistication, ironic asides and urban angst. But perhaps you're the kind of reader who finds that bicoastal attitude superficial perhaps you crave the sincere and accessible exploration of likes biggest issues such as 'Does God exist?'...This story makes you wonder about God. And that is a rare moment,indeed, in modern fiction.—USA Today
Kirkus Reviews
A sweetly affirmative portrait of mother-daughter love that explores big questions while also providing a riveting narrative of a custody battle.Book Details
Published
August 1, 2008
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Pages
512
Format
Mass Market Paperback
ISBN
9780061374968