Tuesday 17 May 2011

Two Novels: Two Sex Scandals

I've just finished reading two novels that deal with sex scandals. Reading the paper today, or almost any day really,  it is no surprise that there are a few novels out there that deal with this subject. Both got me thinking and asking questions, always a good sign that I've enjoyed the book.
Faith by Jennifer Haigh is definitely in my top 3 for spring. It is about the McGann's, a Boston family who all deal with the situation in different ways when Art, a popular pastor of a large suburban church is accused of molesting a young boy. His sister, Sheila, seeks to uncover the truth and discovers some family secrets that begin to influence the way she feels about the situation. As she looks for clues to what happened, and begins her own investigation of sorts,  the book becomes harder and harder to put down. It makes you think about important values like trust, faith, guilt and innocence. I highly recommend this novel. 


The second novel, Fly Away Home, by Jennifer Weiner (author of In Her Shoes, one of my favourites) is about Sylvie Serfer Woodruff, a fifty-seven year-old mother of two who is married to Senator Richard Woodruff. The family is torn apart when Richard is exposed as a cheater after a news story breaks that he has had an affair with one of his legislative aids and used his influence to get her a job at a law firm he used to work at.  

The big question in this novel is will Sylvie stay with Richard or dump him and start a new life?

And how can these women who are prominent in their own right stand by their husbands at the post scandal news conferences?

I'm not sure I got any insight into this after reading the novel but maybe that's the point.
There are some great female characters in this novel and I really enjoyed the dynamic between the two sisters. I also liked the witty dialogue which lightened things up when necessary. 






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