Keeping Faith - Facts

 Mariah and Faith live in New Canaan, New Hampshire. New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Of the 50 U.S. states, New Hampshire is the fifth smallest by area and the tenth least populous.

When she starts talking to God, Faith tells her mother about some saints that God told her about.

Hermann Joseph, (c. 1150 – 7 April 1241) was a German Premonstratensian canon regular and mystic.Herman was characterized by his child-like devotion to Mary. 

Elisabeth of Schönau (c. 1129 – 18 June 1164) was a German Benedictine visionary.[a] She was an abbess at the Schönau Abbey in the Duchy of Nassau, and reportedly experienced numerous religious visions, for which she became widely sought after by many powerful men as far away as France and England.

Juliana Falconieri (1270 – 19 June 1341) was the Italian foundress of the Religious Sisters of the Third Order of Servites.

When Faith starts bleeding through her hands, there is no logical explanation and it is thought that she is a stigmatic. Stigmata are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, feet, near the heart, the head (from the crown of thorns), and back (from carrying the cross and scourging).

The book mentions examples of people reported to have been stigmatic. One is St Francis of Asisi and the other Padre Pio.

St. Francis of Assisi was the first recorded stigmatic. Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone (c. 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italian mystic, poet and Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans.

Pio of Pietrelcina (born Francesco Forgione; 25 May 1887 – 23 September 1968), widely known as Padre Pio (Italian for 'Father Pius'), was an Italian Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He was marked by stigmata in 1918, leading to several investigations by the Holy See. 

When Mariah flees with Faith, she ends up in Perry Lake, Kansas. Perry Lake is a US Army Corps of Engineers operated reservoir in northeast Kansas.

Before the hearing, the judge names a guardian ad litem for Faith. A guardian ad litem (GAL) is a person appointed by a court to look after and protect the interests of someone who is unable to take care of themselves.

Colin's lawyer accuses Mariah of suffering Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a mental illness and a form of child abuse. The caretaker of a child, most often a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick.

During the hearing they also mention somatization disorder. Somatic symptom disorder is diagnosed when a person has a significant focus on physical symptoms, such as pain, weakness or shortness of breath, to a level that results in major distress and/or problems functioning.