Some people can point to a moment that defined their lives. It could be a moment when a metaphorical light bulb became lit and an idea made sense or when an action literally changed a life's course. Whatever the circumstances, that moment was the impetus for everything that followed.

Shelby Richmond is one of those people. She was behind the wheel when a car accident left her best friend in a vegetative state. In that moment, Shelby is transformed from a popular, carefree good girl into a loner who believes the world would be better off without her presence.

In Faithful, bestselling novelist Alice Hoffman (Practical Magic, The Dovekeepers) traces Shelby's metamorphosis from a teenage girl who hides from the world to a young woman who believes her life might be worthwhile, after all. 

Hoffman's prose is engaging, but Shelby's path is neither quick nor easy. In the months after the accident, Shelby holes up in her mother's basement. She can't stand the hoopla that now surrounds her best friend, Helene. Crowds gather outside Helene's home, and people believe they may be granted a miracle by touching the comatose girl's hand. Although she has the option of moving, dreaming, living, Shelby feels nearly as stuck as her best friend, until a series of cryptic postcards begin to show up at her door.

Faithful is a deep dive into grief and its lingering effects, a masterful character study of a young woman reassembling her life, one moment at a time.

 

This article was originally published in the November 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Shelby Richmond loves Chinese food, bookstores, and cocky, bad-boy types, so maybe her move from Long Island to New York City makes sense. But she's still a lost soul, circling around others like her, because as a teenager she walked away unscathed from an accident that tragically changed the course of her best friend's life. She's since been shaped by survivor's guilt, but perhaps somewhere, somehow, someone is watching over her. Hoffman being heartbreaking and magical; with an eight-city tour.

The sweet-natured latest novel from Hoffman (The Marriage of Opposites) ambles along pleasantly enough as it follows the recovery from grief of young Shelby Richmond. As a high school senior, Shelby is driving with her best friend Helene one snowy February night on Long Island when her car goes out of control, leaving Helene in a coma and Shelby ridden with guilt. After a suicide attempt, three months in a psychiatric institution, and a couple of years hiding out in her parents' basement smoking marijuana, Shelby moves to Manhattan, gets a job, makes friends, rescues several dogs, finds a calling, and finds and loses and then finds love. She's helped along on this path by homemade postcards from a mysterious source with messages such as "Feel something" and "Save something." A subplot involving the magical powers attributed to Helene by the hundreds of people who troop faithfully to her door in hopes of a cure goes almost nowhere, and Shelby's life—one learning experience after another—is oddly episodic. The novel, with its hopeful message and well-intentioned characters, will appeal for the relatability of Shelby's slow coming-of-age, romantic difficulties (many of her own making), difficulty in choosing a career, and changing relationship with her parents. Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM Partners. (Nov.)

When Shelby and her best friend, Helene, are in a car accident, Shelby is the lucky one. Or so everyone tells her, since Helene is now in a coma. Shelby's guilt becomes all-encompassing, and she spends years in a dark place, wanting to self-harm and unable to leave her parents' basement. It's a very slow process, but eventually, Shelby heals enough to try a new life in New York City with a boy from high school. Caught in a state of arrested development because of her guilt and low self-esteem, Shelby ultimately learns to forgive herself and love again. Teens will love Shelby—her angst will feel real and honest, while her journey to absolve herself is understandable and sincere. Hoffman writes coming-of-age novels well, and her inclusion of a little bit of magic (or miracle, if you're a believer) fits the urban setting and Shelby's neuroses perfectly. While a tale of redemption, this slim title also tackles family relationships, first jobs, first loves, first apartments, and breakups. Readers who push through the sad opening chapters will cheer for Shelby as she rescues abused dogs and finds herself. VERDICT For Hoffman's fans as well as those who enjoy redemptive stories.—Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL