“Little Faith” by Nickolas Butler

Little Faith: A Novel

By Nickolas Butler
2019
336 pages / 8 hours and 22 minutes
Fiction

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I have been reading serious fiction of all sorts for more than 40 years, and my tastes are extremely eclectic. I occasionally get a few raised eyebrows when I read on the darker side. Still, I would rather read about the perversities of humanity than experience them. But at this point I am particularly attracted to novels that take Christian faith seriously. Novels that do not make faith look silly and take seriously the characters for whom it is their anchor and guide. The most significant 21st-century novel of this sort is probably Marilyn Robinson’s Gilead, which I will review separately. But I want to suggest another one which has probably sneaked by most of you: Little Faith by Nickolas Butler.

Here is a basic plot line that doesn't give away too much. Lyle is a 60-something grandfather. He still attends the Lutheran church because of the community he finds there, but for reasons that will be revealed he doesn't really believe in God. His daughter, Shiloh, a single mother, is living with Lyle and his wife and raising her five-year-old son, Isaac. Lyle adores Isaac, and the book’s opening scene is the most beautiful depiction of a relationship between a grandfather and his grandson that you will ever read. I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t bring any grandparent to tears.

Shiloh develops a relationship with Steven, the pastor of a charismatic evangelical church startup. Steven convinces Shiloh that Isaac is a healer and that the unbelieving grandparents are a bad influence on him, and thus she cuts off all contacts between Lyle and his grandfather. These are the bare bones of a lovely and riveting story of faith, love, and the complications of family.

This book could easily turn into a hatchet job on stripmall churches, and Steven’s character is far from beyond reproach. But there is a magnificent scene between Lyle and another character about faith and prayer that is pitch perfect and moving. Butler is not going for easy answers or uncomplicated characters, and he gives truly respectful treatment to the nature of faith itself.

I often judge a novel by my feelings toward the characters. By the novel’s end I am rooting so hard for Lyle and Isaac and their relationship that I know the author has totally taken me in. Even if it is fiction I have become fully invested in the outcomes.

The true-to-life paradox plays an important role in the novel: as Shiloh grows increasingly devoted to her Christianity, her relationship with her parents – and particularly her unbelieving father – grows increasingly fraught. What does it say about me that I become more irritated with her as she becomes more committed to her understanding of what it means to be a Christian?

Okay, preachers. This is an unsung novel that you really ought to read.