Made me Smile like a Cheshire Cat :o) (Act of Faith - Erica James)

Member Name: Foxy-Lady

Product:	Act of Faith - Erica James
Date:	24/04/05 (263 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice writing style

Disadvantages: A bit rushed towards the end

Grief. It’s a horrible emotion and unfortunately, it’s a feeling that we all inevitably experience at some point in our lives. Everybody deals with it in different ways....some people cope remarkably well but others, like Ali Anderson, find that they can hardly cope at all.

We join Ali on the anniversary of a heart breaking tragedy that tore her and her husband Elliot apart. Unable to stop blaming each other and themselves, they simply couldn’t find comfort in each other and drifted apart through lack of communication and the excruciating suffering caused by their grief. Not a day goes by when the pair don’t think about their cruel loss and understandably the anniversary proves to be a particularly harsh time when all the raw feelings come flooding back to the surface. This also includes thoughts and memories of the feelings they once had for each other.

Since the divorce they have barely been on speaking terms (mainly due to stubbornness) but they begin to feel that they should perhaps open up and confide in each other once more in an attempt to ease their pain. After all, they are the only people who can fully understand what each other is going through.

An offer to spend Christmas with Elliot and his father is turned down by Ali as she wants to appear to be independent and able to stand on her own two feet at such a difficult time. After some persuasion shes decides that instead of being alone, she’ll spend the festive period with her best friend Sarah, including her daughter and annoying husband Trevor.

Ali has always suspected that Sarah is unhappy in her seemingly loveless marriage and after spending a few days with the family, it becomes apparent to her that she is correct. A conversation with her friend confirms her suspicions - Sarah only stays with her husband as a result of her strong Christian faith. So, Ali decides that this is no way for her to continue living her life and decides to help her....

....But her intervention has consequences that Ali could never have imagined. She uncovers an 18 year old secret and suddenly finds that her actions have an outcome that could completely change her life forever!

Act of Faith is a lovely story about love and forgiveness which also offers a deep insight into grief and the complex knock-on effect that it can have on relationships and family life. At times, this can be very moving and I even shed a tear or two! It’s certainly not all doom and gloom though. This is the first novel I have read by Erica James and I found that she has the ability to write in a very clever way, successfully combining sad, touching moments with an element of light hearted humour.

The real life situations instantly make the characters believable and they are also likeable and nicely developed. This causes the reader to actually feel concerned as they read about the various issues confronted in the book. The two main women in the story, Ali and Sarah, provide an interesting contrast as they are so different in personality. Despite her obvious grief Ali is portrayed as being confident and outgoing. Sarah on the other hand is the complete opposite - subdued and cautious. The focus of the story changes seamlessly between the best friends, combining the two respective storylines in an entertaining way.

At approximately 500 pages in length this book is a fairly chunky size which is good. I have just one criticism though...the majority of these pages is dedicated to the build up of the story which flows at a nice pace. After Ali has stepped in to help her friend, it all seems a bit too rushed for my liking. I was desperate to find out what would happen to the characters but I didn’t want to know that quickly!

I would describe this pleasant novel as being very similar to Joanna Trollope’s work in it’s writing style. It’s an easy read that doesn’t require too much concentration but I found that it kept me adequately engrossed throughout. Typically English springs to mind too as it is set in the Cheshire countryside and the descriptive nature of the surroundings is lovely. This is probably the best feature of the book. It’s always nice to be able to envisage the setting of a book and this does so remarkably well. It made me smile like a Cheshire cat!





Published by: Orion
ISBN: 0-75283-754-0
Cover price: £6.99 (but I picked my copy up for the bargain price of 50p in a charity shop)

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