From No. 1 bestselling author Beth Moran comes a
story about family, friendship and community.
As Faith tries on her
future mother-in-law’s wedding dress in preparation for her own wedding, her
tears are not of joy. The hideous frock is nicknamed ‘The Ghost Web’ by Faith’s
best friend Marilyn, who can’t understand why Faith would even consider wearing
it. But there’s a lot Marilyn doesn’t know about Faith – not the least of which
is that Faith is just the latest of the names she has called herself.
Faith and her brother
Sam survived a traumatic childhood which included having to change their names
to hide from the past, but surviving has left scars. Faith’s generous fiancé
Perry doesn’t just promise to be a partner, he offers freedom and security, and
enough kindness to keep Faith squashing down any doubts on what ‘being in love’
really means.
It’s not until she meets
an extraordinary group of women at the Grace Chapel choir, that things start to
become crystal clear. As choir-leader extraordinaire, the indomitable Hester,
holds a mirror up to her ragtag group of singers, all with their own burdens
and insecurities, and teaches them to see how magnificent they are, so Faith
can dare to dream of a future where she and Sam can stop running and she might
even be ready to accept the love that she deserves.
Faith is a woman of many secrets. Secrets she doesn't want her fiancé Perry to know. At least not yet. Perry comes from a very upper class family who have tons of money while Faith's background is anything but glamorous. She's had a difficult childhood to the point of being absolutely horrific and its taken her many years to get back on her feet from that scared child, to the lost teenager to the woman she's become. She's fighting so hard to keep her brother Sam on the straight and narrow with addiction and mental health problems having a tight grip on his life. Despite being engaged to a super rich man, Faith is determined to maintain her financial independence in the run up to the wedding and works harder than ever to look after herself. Perry's horrible mother is determined to have a say in everything wedding related and Faith just lets her. This marriage is a way to ensure that Sam is looked after and that Faith has the means to do it. She loves Perry of course, in her own way but does he really understand her or what she needs?
Things start to change for Faith when she accidently joins the choir of the church she is to be married in. Her friend Marilyn who cannot sing well at all even ends up becoming part of the choir. Little did Faith know at the time but the women in the choir would change her life completely. Throw in an extremely handsome Vicar and life just got a whole lot more complicated for Faith.
This is an absolutely amazing book but be warned, it does cover some hard hitting topics such as domestic violence, grief, addiction and mental health issues but it is done in the most sensitive and well handled way. Beth Moran has created a little bit of all of us in Faith. We all have secrets, a past that perhaps we need to run away from, albeit not as traumatic as Faith's but Faith shows us all, along with her fellow choir members that by grabbing the friendship and support that is offered to us we can survive anything.
I think what I loved most about this book was the theme of friendship and community and the fact that family is more than just blood. I adore books that have friendship groups featured. I have some amazing women in my life so I know groups of women like the choir ladies do exist and I just thought the ladies of the Grace chapel choir were simply amazing. Each had their own personal problems but through choirmaster Hester's somewhat unconventional guidance, they all grew in confidence and found their voices in more ways than one. There was just so much love. Marilyn had to be my all time favourite character. She was absolutely hilarious!
While this book does have some serious undertones it is also full of humour and I found myself laughing out loud so much. To be able to write about some serious topics yet still add a comedic element to the story really takes skill and Beth Moran has really outdone herself. Add a sprinkling of romance and this book is a real winner and one of my highly recommended reads! Have some tissues ready because you'll either be crying laughing or crying because your heart is breaking. Either way, this book will not disappoint. This is the type of book I'd love to write!
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