7.6 /10 1 Votes
Country Scotland Media type Print Originally published 2008 Genre Dystopia | 3.8/5 Goodreads Language English Publication date 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publisher Strident Publishing Company Similar The Opposite of Amber, Crossing the Line, The Lost Children, Sci‑Fi Stories Shade Sh, Firebrand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bad Faith is a 2008 novel by Gillian Phillip. This dystopian murder mystery explores the role of religion in life and government. This is Gillian Phillip's first full-length novel.
Contents
Summary
The book begins with the death of Cass’s grandmother, whom she calls Bunty. Seemingly simple, the story starts to show the attitudes of the people around her, and is an introduction to the characters themselves. At the beginning of chapter one, the family is back in their home, going about their normal routine, when Cass mentions to her brother that Bishop Todd, Bishop of the One Church, is missing. Griffin, or Griff, being a seventeen-year-old cynic, shrugs it off, ignoring his little sister and continuing to play black market video games. Later, when they go to deal with their family, Griff creates a spark. The family argues and the father admits to more than he wants known publicly, leading to everyone going about their own ways.
Cassandra decides to meet up with her boyfriend, Ming, despite the fact that she has homework due, but first overhears a revealing conversation between her parents. Things start to fall into place in her mind at that point. She hurries off to meet her boyfriend, and they discover a body. Neither wishes to be involved, so they do not report it. They hide the body in a cave, where they hope it will not be found. Ming makes a reference to Orpheus and Eurydice, begging her not to look back, but she does.
The story continues with Cassandra's father leading a church service, also making a reference to Orpheus and Eurydice. Cass asks for an explanation. She and her family then end up back at their home, with Ming appearing shortly. After seeing a press conference with Ma Baxter, they are all disgusted, but manage to go eat. The children end up parting ways after a run-in with an unpleasant acquaintance. Cassandra is mad at Ming because he has been using her as a pawn, as she describes it, in his little twisted games with Jeremiah. Cass ends up in the vestry searching around for things, where her brother finds her not long after she arrived. They then find their Aunt Abby, who has it in for Cass and is determined to give her a lesson in love.
Characters
Key terms and group characters
Politics
Bad Faith takes place in a dystopian society. The government is a theocratic totalitarian regime run by Mother (Ma) Baxter. It is clearly stated at points that the nation used to be "godless", but now it has its faith again. The One Church is the national church, and everyone should belong. This is the ideology that she uses to maintain her power and the government itself.
There is a militia in the novel that goes around, vigilante style, doing their will to impose the beliefs of the One Church. Honour killings are not uncommon, even after the One Church forms and goes with the government.
Before the One Church, there were religious wars, different sects fighting over who was right; fighting for dominance. Even now, when Cassandra thinks that the so-called infidels might be better running things, Aunt Abby points out that everyone would tell them what to do. She makes references to terrorists who kill themselves to make a stand.
There is an obvious distrust of the government and law enforcement shown by several of the main characters. "Rocks are like policemen: only around when you don’t need one."
There is a clear social hierarchy in the society and the school. Those that follow are favoured: the pure, the rational. Whereas those that dissent from the majority are heretics and secularists. They can have their land taken away at the will of the government and formerly they used to be burned.