What did you think about Shelby’s relationship with her mother?įor more questions, check out these resources from the publisher.Were you surprised when Ben Mink showed up at Shelby’s door near the end of the book? Were you surprised that Shelby opted to stay with James?.Assorted reviewers used words like banal, saccharine, and clichéd to describe the writing in this book.What did you think about the postcards?.Have you read anything else by Alice Hoffman? How did this book compare?.Many of her works fall into the genre of magic realism and contain elements of magic, irony, and non-standard romances and relationships. Did you find Shelby to be a sympathetic character? Did your feelings about her change over the course of the book? If you had trouble connecting with her at the beginning of the book, when did that start to change? Alice Hoffman (born March 16, 1952) is an American novelist and young-adult and children's writer, best known for her 1995 novel Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name.Shelby, though, remains faithful to her guilt.” In their eyes, she has redeemed herself many times over.

Shelby’s mother, Sue Shelby’s friend Maravelle, and her high school friend Ben, as well as a tattoo artist she meets late in the novel, remain faithful to the idea that Shelby is not a bad person. What does the title refer to? Consider this thought from the reviewer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune : “The title of Hoffman’s deeply moving novel refers to a quality most of the book’s characters share when it comes to how they feel about Shelby.This is an UNOFFICIAL SUMMERIZATION of the content from the book:įurthermore, this complimentary guide intends to encourage the reader to get the original book to further their comprehension and understanding of the book.Discussion questions for Faithful by Alice Hoffman This is NOT the ORIGINAL BOOK and is not intended to take its place. In addition, the fact that Shelby possesses a healthy sense of humor serves as a welcome antidote to the darker feelings, such as hopelessness, examined throughout the novel.

The character of Shelby is complex in part because she goes through a variety of emotional experiences that are common to the lives of most people, such as falling in love and the death of a parent, as well as experiences that are unique, if not downright uncommon, such as being raped and suffering from mental illness. This is appropriate given that she focuses on the interior lives of her disturbed protagonist in her work.' In her own mind, Shelby Richmond stole her best friend’s future. This technique is excellent in expressing a tone of emotional honesty. Hoffman takes a break from writing about distant places and the distant past ( Marriage of Opposites, 2015, etc.) to explore the psyche of a young Long Island woman afflicted by survivor guilt. 'The prolific author Alice Hoffman, who has penned several books that have been great sellers, uses a spare writing style in her novel Faithful. It enables you to quickly absorb the main ideas of a lengthy book in no time. Our summary is concise, clear, and practical.

Faithful by alice hoffman summary