Tempting Faith Dinapoli B [Paperback]

Gabriele Lisa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 3, 2003

Sweet, sarcastic and completely exasperating, Faith DiNapoli is determined to mend her family's dysfunctional ways. Not easy with the DiNapolis, already run out of town once and constantly teetering on the edge of disrepute. Even harder as Faith has a tendency to misread everything - including the Bible and her mother's diary. And despite her dreams of respectability, Faith is struggling with her own temptations, such as dope, drink, boys, and short, short skirts. Will she end up like her hard-working, tough-talking, fabulous mother, abandoned with four kids before she's thirty, working as a waitress at the local diner? What chance does she have, attending a school her mother has nicknamed 'The Slut Daycare Centre'? Determined to fight her way to adulthood and win, funny, sharp-eyed, indefatigable Faith DiNapoli is an irresistible heroine, and her story is heart-breaking, hilarious and brimming with life.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Faith DiNapoli is the well-meaning eldest daughter of a dysfunctional Italian family living in 1970s Canada. With an absent father, three rambunctious siblings, and a mother who's trying to make the best of the life she's got instead of focusing on the life she wanted, young Faith takes it upon herself to assume religious responsibility and tries to be "good enough" to make up for the flaws of her whole family. She struggles between the person she is and the perfect one she wants to be, and it ultimately takes a test of faith for her to find self-acceptance and her place in the world. Gabriele, a Canadian Lifesize TV executive producer whose work has been published in the Washington Post and Nerve magazine, has written a poignant, memoir-style debut novel that is emotionally intense and ultimately satisfying. Recommended for public libraries. Amy Brozio-Andrews, Albany P.L., NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This funny, winning coming-of-age novel features Canadian Catholic Faith DiNapoli, one of four children of Giusseppe, her Italian immigrant father, and Nancy, her smart, irreverent mother. Nancy's hobbies were listening to Johnny Mathis and being Catholic until the day Faith makes her First Communion, when Nancy decides that she is never going to church again. Her nonconformity makes her family a pariah in their city neighborhood so the DiNapolis move to a small, rural town, where her parents promptly split up. Now Faith is more worried than ever about adhering to the tenets of her faith. And although she tries hard to be a good Catholic, she spends a good deal of her early teenage years shoplifting fashionable clothes, eyeing her tattooed twentysomething neighbor, pilfering beer, and reading her mother's diary (where she discovers the shocking reason why her mother has disowned her faith). First-novelist Gabriele has created a wonderfully dysfunctional family continually short on money but overflowing with passion. Although Faith may be more sinner than saint, she is sure to be an inspiration to good Catholic girls everywhere. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Virago Press Ltd (July 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860499910
• ISBN-13: 978-1860499913
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,551,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An original, October 27, 2002

By 

English major (Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tempting Faith DiNapoli: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is quite enjoyable, especially for the Christian (not just Catholic) females out there. Faith is constantly guilt-ridden, not that it stops her from "busting all 10 Commandments". She tries to be godly and consistently fails, but it is her conscience and guilt that endear her to the reader. This book is definitely an original, and you will not want to put it down until you find out how Faith and her family end up.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars funny, touching and heartwarming, August 22, 2002

By 

Jan (Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tempting Faith Di Napoli (Hardcover)

I loved this book, bought it because of an excerpt in the National Post that made me want to read more. So many of the experiences of the members of this family brought back memories of growing up in the same area where the book took place. Such a wacky, dysfunctional family, but some of the characters seemed so real,I actually laughed out loud through parts, and could have cried at others.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book, September 1, 2002

By 

Susan Caille---- CPC (Windsor, Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tempting Faith Di Napoli (Hardcover)

This was one of the best books I have ever read. Equally heartbreaking, and hilarious. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to feel what it is like to be in a REAL family, with real dilemmas, and real love. This family, as disfunctional as they were, really loved eachother, were truly close in every way. I adored each and every one of them. This was a wonderful book, it will make you laugh and cry, and the characters remain in my heart long after the last page is turned. I loved it!!!