Faithful by Alice Hoffman

Faithful by Alice Hoffman is one of the most beautiful, exquisite, and thought provoking books that I have ever read. I don't know if I'll be able to write a review that will do justice to it, but I'll try my best.

Our main character, Shelby, is in a car accident with her best friend, Helene. Helene enters into a coma and she doesn't come out. Shelby blames herself for the accident, which leads to her nervous breakdown, and a short stay in the psychiatric hospital. When she finally comes home, she shaves her head bald, retreats to her parents' basement, skips her deadline to apply to school, and smokes pot with Ben, a boy that she knew in high school but didn't usually hang out with or particularly like.

Time passes. Ben and Shelby become a couple and move to New York. Ben is going to pharmacy school and Shelby gets a job at a pet store. In spite of herself, Shelby becomes involved in life again. She becomes friends with a coworker, Maravelle, and this friendship changes the course of her life. She rescues (or steals depending upon your point of view) two dogs from homeless people who are simply using them as props to gain more money when they beg. She also rescues (or steals) a dog that has been chained up and doesn't have any food or water. She even rescues (or steals) a cat.

Shelby's love for animals saves her just as much as she has saved them. She decides to become a vet and is accepted into vet school.

Alice Hoffman explores the complicated nature of relationships and why we are or aren't faithful through the characters in the story. Shelby's relationships with Ben, Harper, and James all illustrate this. Her mother's complicated relationship with her father, especially as she is dying of cancer, illustrates this as well.

Alice Hoffman manages to portray deep and profound truths in the minutiae of everyday life.