A book by Jane Gardam is always a treat: 'Old Filth' had me in thrall a while back, so I was eager to get stuck into Faith Fox. And at first I was hooked. The various voices in the novel: worthy women from the Surrey stockbroker belt, a disparate group existing in eccentric poverty on the North York Moors, a lone 11 year old, an elderly and somewhat cantankerous couple, a widowed doctor all rang true as I read the tale from each of their very different points of view. We never meet the woman whose past underpins the entire story. Holly Fox dies in childbirth on line one of the book, leaving a baby daughter. What is to happen to her provides the book with its plot line.

Finally though, I was disappointed. Not by the writing - never that. But the plot seems to depend on ever more unbelievable vignettes, as the characters in some cases become caricatures of themselves. Coincidence and happenstance occur on every page, and the ending, when it comes, leaves me feeling that nothing, nothing at all has been resolved for ... oh more than three or four days maybe. Which is not an unrealistic outcome with this motley crew of characters.

Somewhere under all this excess is a fine novel struggling to get out. For me, this was a good, but ultimately disappointing read. ( )

This was ultimately a really frustrating, boring story. Gardam's usually incisive writing wasn’t very evident nor did I ever feel engaged in the narrative. Perhaps its major flaw was my difficulty in becoming engrossed in the action, or even enjoying the prose, if not the characters.

One barrier to immersing in the story was that I lost track of why everyone was so inept and snarky, with so little genuine empathy for the father and motherless newborn baby. It’s curious that Gardam included such a numerous cast of disjointed, unlovely people. Although I persevered to the end, I must have lost the thread of the plot, because the ending seemed to just peter out. ( )

I very much enjoyed Old Filth. This was nearly as good. The author has an incredible gift for creating very real characters. I love how English they are - mostly. I love how much humour is used even in the most tragic situations. I love how Faith is the common thread without ever doing or saying anything. ( )

While the title of this book is Faith Fox, Faith is not the star of the show. The real star is her deceased mother, Holly. Holly Fox died of a blood clot while giving birth to Faith and her passing devastates everyone who knew her. Holly's overly loving mother, Thomasina, can't face the newborn who killed her daughter so she runs away with a widower, not even attending Holly's funeral. Then there is Holly's overworked doctor husband, Andrew, who can't deal with a newborn emotionally or physically. He decides to cart the baby off to his brother Jack's Tibetan commune in northern England. There, Andrew reconnects with his pre-Holly love interest, Jocasta (now married to Andrew's brother, Jack). It is all of these characters that make Faith Fox so interesting. Threaded throughout the story is the push-pull struggle of north versus south England. Underlying prejudices shape certain characters and their behaviors.
This is one of those books you have to read carefully or else you might miss something. Gardam's language is conversational, almost conspiratorial. It's as if she is leaning in and speaking under her breath, all in a rush to tell you all the dirty secrets. ( )

Did not enjoy this as much as Flight of the Maiden's or Old filth. A very "busy" novel stretched thin over too many lightly sketched characters. Did not finish but will return to it again.