Little Faith: A Novel - Softcover

Lyle and Peg Hovde, now in their golden years, live a quiet and contented life in rural Wisconsin. After a troubled adolescence and a period of estrangement, their daughter, Shiloh, has returned home, bringing her five-year-old son, Isaac, with her. The joy of a grandchild has given the Hovdes a chance to heal old wounds and forge new bonds, and Lyle is determined to keep his family intact for the rest of his days.

Shiloh has changed in her time away from home, however—now, she’s a deeply involved member of an extremist church, and commits herself to its strict religious rules with a feverish devotion. The church’s pastor is smitten with Shiloh, and is even more captivated by Isaac, who he believes has the God-given ability to heal the sick.

Lyle, whose own faith was severely shaken after a tragedy years ago, now finds himself torn. The practices of the church make him increasingly uneasy—but if he rebuffs Shiloh’s newfound community, his daughter and grandson may disappear from his life for good. And when the church’s radical belief system threatens Isaac’s safety, Lyle is forced to make a decision that may fracture the family beyond repair.

Set over the course of one year and beautifully evoking the change of seasons, Little Faith is a stunning and profoundly moving novel about friendship and community, the ways in which belief is both forged and dismantled, and the lengths we go to protect our own.

Nickolas Butler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison as well as the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the author of the novel The Hearts of Men, the internationally bestselling and prizewinning novel Shotgun Lovesongs, and the acclaimed short story collection Beneath the Bonfire. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife and their two children.