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Art & Books

Sweet Jesus

SWEET JESUS (Christine Pountney) Rating: NNNN


I never thought I’d sympathize with a woman of unshakeable Christian faith, but that’s the genius of Christine Pountney. She can get you to feel for the most unlikely characters.

In Sweet Jesus, three siblings, all experiencing life crises, reconnect for a road trip to Kansas. The first half deals with their life changes: Hannah’s leaving her boyfriend because he doesn’t want a child, gay guy Zeus’s lover has just died of cancer, and God-loving Connie’s husband has lost their fortune via online stock-trading. They’re headed to Wichita to visit a megachurch that deeply influenced their mother, and then Zeus is off to find his birth parents.

Pountney’s characters are vivid, thanks to her profound sympathy. Because she refuses to make them two-dimensional, they all have points of view that make sense no matter how outlandish their beliefs. And the scenes with Zeus – a professional clown who performs for terminally ill children – are a knockout.

A must read.

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