Acts of Faith by Erich Segal. Age: adult. Library section: Adult fiction. This novel involves three people from the same tiny Brooklyn neighborhood and how their lives intersect. Timothy Hogan, from a stormy Irish household, takes part in an act of vandalism which sets him on the road to the priesthood in an unusual way. Daniel Luria, the only son of Rabbi Moses Luria, is destined to lead his father’s community of Orthodox Jews in this same tiny corner of Brooklyn. And then there is Deborah Luria, Daniel’s sister, who has been raised to be an obedient, silent Orthodox Jewish wife. She will leave home and enter worlds her father never imagined.
This novel is set in Brooklyn as well as Montreal, Rome and Jerusalem, as the lives of these three religious seekers collide, reverberate and intertwine over the years.
This is an excellent saga. The characters are so true to life, and they give us Lutherans a window into the Catholic and Jewish faiths. I included this book in our library because the characters’ lives are centered around their faith communities, and the plot is driven by the requirements of those faiths. It causes readers to ask, “how far would I go for faith?” “Is faith only good if it unites rather than separates family members?” “What happens when faith collides with conscience, or with life goals?”
Not as sentimental or “schlocky” as Segal’s Love Story, this novel is deeper, more complex, and highly satisfying. I’ve read it a number of times and have been spellbound and entertained each time as the characters are catapulted into new situations. None of their actions are without consequences, and sometimes those consequences are unbearable; while other times they are sweet far beyond their wildest dreams. Will each live their dreams? How will their dreams be played out? Is there such as thing as real happiness? What happens when a goal is attained but that in turn ruins the dreams of loved ones? What happens when other paths suddenly open? What family secrets lie buried, only to be resurrected in time? Is redemption possible in life? Does faith play a role in redemption and understanding or does it always mean separateness for the highly devout? Read this absorbing novel and find out this author’s answer ( )