ACTS OF FAITH was written by Erich Segal in March of 1993.
This book begins twenty-five years ago when 3 people are destined to meet.
Timothy Hogan’s parents abandoned him right after he was born. A Catholic Church in Brooklyn allows him to live in one of their Orphanages. He has been sent to Rome and is thinking about becoming a Priest.
Daniel Luria, is the son of the Rev of the Siczer branch of ultra orthodox religious Jews. Daniel plans to become a Rabbi as well.
Deborah Luria is Daniel’s sister. She is being grooming by her mother to be the wife of a Rabbi.
In the winter after the sun goes down, no one can turn on or off any light in the homes or in Conservative and Orthodox Synagogues, except someone who is not Jewish. They get paid for doing this job. Timothy breaks the Lurias window and to repay them, Timothy is hired to turn off the lights on Sabbat.
Deborah and Timothy are attracted to one another. The Rev catches them doing the forbid deed and he sends Deborah to live on a Kibbutz, (a farming community, where all the residents share everything), in Israel.
Daniel is left alone, but as all young men he find that he falls in love with Miriam. When his lover leaves him to make it not seem so harsh, he is given a tip on some stocks. After he makes a lot of money on the tips he got, Daniel decides he likes this type of life and leaves the religious community.
Timothy becomes a Priest and is sent to Brazil. Some thing happens here that changes his life.
I am not going to tell you any more about this book, in case you haven’t read it.
What I Thought
Segal has written a great plot and made his characters all believable. I was surprised how much he knew about the Catholic Religion. It’s rare to find character who are quite pure what they do and in their hearts.
You will learn about Bar Mitzvah’s, Jewish weddings as to journey through the pages. I knew what was going to happen on the Jewish side, but to me I could predict the Catholic point of view.
I wonder how Catholics will feel about Priests having sex? After what has been going on in the United States, I guess they will have to face up to what some Priests do.
Erich Segal let readers see how different people imagine faith, (even those people who do not believe in any higher power).
I really liked this book especially because I am Jewish and Segal’s portrayal of Judaism was very accurate. The insight I receive to the other religions was great.
Two downers! It gets a little slow in the middle of the book and I’m not sure if the character Daniel was really needed in this book.
This book is about looking into your self and learning about tolerance and faith. As Martha Stewart say’s, ’’That’s a good thing.’’ and is why I did enjoy reading it and do recommend it.
Other Information
I bought the paper back book at a used book store for $2.00 CAD.
It was published by Bantam House and it has 550 pages.
ISBN# 0-553-56070-0
Thanks for reading my review.
©LL2005