Faithful by Alice Hoffman

Amy 

fiction

Faithful is very different from the other novels I’ve read by Alice Hoffman. For one thing, its setting is contemporary. For another, there is not really any wonder or mysticism in the story. It is the story of a very troubled, guilty, and angsty young woman. She is not particularly likable. Although the reader understands the cause of her lousy attitude, Shelby’s point of view, behaviors, and attitudes wore on me pretty quickly. In fact, I almost stopped “reading” the audiobook near the beginning because it was just too miserable and pathetic. I mean, I get why she’s so miserable but that doesn’t mean I want to keep reading about it. Thankfully, things did get a little better so I persevered. However, in the end, I’m not sure it was entirely worth it. This is definitely my least favorite of Hoffman’s novels.

Due to a few lucky breaks, Shelby’s life isn’t as terrible as it could be. Without giving too much away, it made no sense that her boyfriend a) wanted to live with her and b) tolerated her for so long. Seriously. What a saint to be willing to share himself with someone who doesn’t want to enjoy any aspects of life and who doesn’t appreciate him. What he saw in her, the reader never knows. It’s unbelievable. She’s also lucky that she had someone who cared enough to communicate via postcards and give her a tether to hope. She’s lucky that she got the position at work despite the fact that she most certainly did not deserve it. And she’s lucky to have walked into the tattoo parlor she chose out of all the possible places that exist in NYC. So, despite herself, life looks like it could turn out alright for Shelby. But, it was a somber path to reach that point. Yes, she was kind to animals and people who were down on their luck, but those good deeds were not enough to make me like her or the book. I also don’t understand the title of the novel. Perhaps the reader has to be faithful to get through the book? Shelby was not faithful.

The narration of this audiobook proves that not all actors make good audiobook narrators. Amber Tamblyn is most definitely not a good narrator. She got tolerable when speaking in the individual characters’ voices—at least she became more animated--but even then, the voices of Shelby and Ben were difficult to differentiate during conversations. And, unfortunately, they have a lot of conversations. As the narrator, she was completely monotone, not even putting emphasis on the correct words of the sentences. She sounded angry almost all the time and this did not add to my desire to continue listening. In fact, I think she is part of the reason I didn’t love this novel. I give her a C-.