Faithful
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4.0 • 5 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
She was disappearing inch by inch, vanishing into thin air, and then one day a postcard arrived . . . There was no return address, no signature, only a scrawled message: Say something.
Shelby Richmond is an ordinary girl growing up on Long Island until one night a terrible road accident brings her life to a halt. While her best friend Helene suffers life-changing injuries, Shelby becomes overwhelmed with guilt and is suddenly unable to see the possibility of a future she’d once taken for granted.
But as time passes, and Helene becomes an almost otherworldly figure within the town, seen by its inhabitants as a source of healing, Shelby finds herself attended to by her own guardian angel. A mysterious figure she half-glimpsed the night of the car crash, he now sends Shelby brief but beautiful messages imploring her to take charge of her life once more . . .
What happens when a life is turned inside out? When you lose all hope and sense of worth? Shelby, a fan of Chinese food, dogs, bookshops, and men she should stay away from, captures both the ache of loneliness and the joy of finding oneself at last. From the bestselling author of The Dovekeepers comes this spellbinding, poignant and life-affirming story of one woman’s journey towards happiness – and the power of love, family and fate.
‘A great atmospheric storyteller . . . Her books are a real pleasure’ Kate Atkinson
‘Alice Hoffman reminds us with every sentence that words have the power to transport us to alternate worlds’ Jodi Picoult
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The sweet-natured latest novel from Hoffman (The Marriage of Opposites) ambles along pleasantly enough as it follows the recovery from grief of young Shelby Richmond. As a high school senior, Shelby is driving with her best friend Helene one snowy February night on Long Island when her car goes out of control, leaving Helene in a coma and Shelby ridden with guilt. After a suicide attempt, three months in a psychiatric institution, and a couple of years hiding out in her parents' basement smoking marijuana, Shelby moves to Manhattan, gets a job, makes friends, rescues several dogs, finds a calling, and finds and loses and then finds love. She's helped along on this path by homemade postcards from a mysterious source with messages such as "Feel something" and "Save something." A subplot involving the magical powers attributed to Helene by the hundreds of people who troop faithfully to her door in hopes of a cure goes almost nowhere, and Shelby's life one learning experience after another is oddly episodic. The novel, with its hopeful message and well-intentioned characters, will appeal for the relatability of Shelby's slow coming-of-age, romantic difficulties (many of her own making), difficulty in choosing a career, and changing relationship with her parents.
