Breaking Faith: Faith Zanetti #3

Faith Zanetti

by Anna Blundy

Faith Zanetti has suddenly found herself in a country she never thought she?d visit: The land of middle-class motherhood, complete with a desk job. Faith yearns to be chasing stories, ideally someplace with insurgents in the hills, but her boss wants her writing a piece commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Cairnbridge (read: Lockerbie) bombing. Cairnbridge! Faith was barely old enough to smoke when pieces of an airplane came raining down on a tiny town in Scotland. She can barely contain her boredom. Until, all of a sudden, the story gets very, very interesting.

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2009

About the author

'I was born in 1970 and grew up on my own with my mum while dad flew around the world to wars and summits. It was odd in those days, when most people didn’t go abroad, to be watching the news (in black and white) and taking it personally. Mum had shabby boyfriends and Dad had beautiful and glamorous girlfriends. I hated both lots. I spent most holidays in New York and Washington staying in foreign correspondent flats – not much furniture but lots of bottles of spirits.

I was a show-off at school and was always form captain, always in the plays and musicals. When I was fifteen I fell in love with Communist Russia and a black marketeer I met on Red Square. It was minus twenty and we were followed by the KGB. He lives in Frankfurt now.

I went to Westminster for the sixth form and showed off some more.

My dad was killed at the end of the war in El Salvador in 1989, the beginning of my second year at Oxford. I hadn’t much liked it anyway and after that I just drank until it was over.

I had done O’Level and A’ Level Russian and I did it at university too. Afterwards I moved to Moscow and worked for an American TV company making coffee and fancying the correspondent. In the evenings I sang in a blues band.

Back in London when I was 23 I started writing for newspapers and tried to travel as much as possible. I went to Russia all the time and to America, the Middle East and Africa. I wrote a column for the Times Magazine about my love life for four years. Not so fashionable now, but it was my column and that of Zoe Heller (we started at the same time) that Helen Fielding satirised in Bridget Jones.

In 1997 I went to El Salvador and wrote a book about my dad, Every Time We Say Goodbye, about bereavement, about fathers and daughters. That same year I got married, got pregnant and got a job as Moscow correspondent for the Times. Now I’m still married (surprisingly) and have two children. I write books about Faith Zanetti and am trying to stop the roof leaking on my house in Italy.

Reviews

[Nancy Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out with some humorous events about a hardcore war correspondent dealing with being a single Mom. But as it proceeds into the plot surrounding the Lockerbie bombing, it descends into confusion. The plot is clearly complex - but so are most of Le Carre's. It feels at times like the author and/or the editor lost the thread. There are story lines that pop up from nowhere, lives that end without really knowing why (if you're a journalist, it would seem to be important to solve that) and basically, the continuity leaves a lot to be desired. I wanted to like the book, and needing an escape I did read the whole thing. But some crimes can't just be sloughed off. Unfortunately, Faith ends up seeming puerile - I wanted more from her. But if it's at a B&B, and you need some escapist lit, then I'm sure there are worse choices.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faith Zanetti has spent a major part of her adult life following in the steps of her war correspondent father had been killed many years ago in Belfast. He had been the anchor in her life and after throwing dirt on his casket she began building up a serious emotion defense system to keep her going. Smoking and drinking heavy were some of the mechanisms she used to get by. Some of this had to change after she became a mother.

But when Faith is put on a story about the anniversary of the Lockerbie crash which known as Cairnbridge in the UK, she begins to get phone calls and postcards that appear to come from that very dead father. The key to Faith's story is to find the anonymous caller who warned authorities about the bomb that was to be taken n board in either Germany or England. This warning was ignored and after the horrendous crash conspiracy theories flew like confetti. Is it too late to find the truth.

Faith's search leads her to several places including Sicily and she finds out many things that shake her foundation. This is the basis of the title Breaking Faith.

This book is one of the best Faith adventures I have read. Blundy really drew me into Faith and her troubled mind. Great Read!!

[Scotchneat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the first Faith book was the best one - much more shock hard journalism and dark humour. This one took a turn for the fanciful if you ask me.

Faith Zanetti turns out to have connections to Sicilia, which can mean only one thing. And she still isn't comfortable with motherhood or commitment.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book left me wondering, "what just happened?" This story was very fast paced and interesting. Better written than Vodka Neat because it didn't have to go back and forth in time and try to figure all the characters out. It was fun figuring everything out before Faith does but then WHAM! It wasn't quite what you expected. Looking for the next installment!