Book Review - "Matters of Faith"

Matters of Faith - By Kristy Kiernan

             The main theme of this book is about divided loyalty…

 Marshall comes home from college with his first real girlfriend, Ada.  Always having been interested in religion and spirituality, Marshall feels that he has finally found what he is looking for in Ada.  Ada’s background is vaguely defined in the book, but as the reader, you get the impression she was raised in a very fundamentalist, communal sort of religious upbringing.

 Marshall’s family is very excited to meet Ada, especially his 12-year old sister Megan.  Megan’s character suffers from severe food allergies which apparently preoccupied Marshall’s parents for most of his young adult life.  The turning point of the novel is when Ada convinces Marshall to feed Megan some peanut butter cookie while they are on a boating trip.  This, of course, sends Megan into anaphylactic shock.

 As the story progresses, this family is torn apart as they struggle to survive the unimaginable…how do you love both children equally when one purposefully poisoned the other?  The husband and wife are divided, the son and mother are divided, the girlfriend and boyfriend are divided, and it doesn’t stop there.  This is a very moving book that focuses on the reconciliation of forgiveness and faith.