I think my 3-star rating of this book may be a bit generous as I sit down to write this review. I had to force myself to finish reading this story mostly out of curiosity as to how it would end. And, now that I am finished, admittedly, I find myself asking, "So what?"
A collection of wacky characters and their inter-related life stories are the backdrop of the storyline that includes a three-time divorced mother (Mrs. Leontina Scales) who is a member of the 'Cliffs of Zion Radical Radiant Pentecostal Church' and her 3 dysfunctional children (Tabitha, Hogan and Kirk), her pastor (Pastor Jakob Huyck) who develops a crush on Tabitha, a choir director (Jeremy) in the adjoining Catholic Church (Our Lady of Something or Other) and his gay friends Sean and Marty. Jeremy has never gotten over his love for Willem, who is now married with the perfect family. Jeremy is also the twinkle in the eye of Kirk, the youngest of Mrs. Scales' three children.
And, there are the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mysteries, (Mother Clare du Plessix, Sister Alice Coyne, Sister Maria Goretti, Sister Jeanne d'Arc, Sister Felicity, Sister Perpetua, Sister Clothilde, Sister Magdalene). I have to admit the Sisters were my favorite characters. They were smart, funny, witty and sincere.
One of the more interesting passages for me came from Mother Clare when she was speaking to Jeremy and his friends:
"The whole notion of the cloister still espcaes you, doesn't it? At least one of the many reasons one enters is not to escape the world because it is too painful, but because it is too beautiful to bear."
A collection of wacky characters and their inter-related life stories are the backdrop of the storyline that includes a three-time divorced mother (Mrs. Leontina Scales) who is a member of the 'Cliffs of Zion Radical Radiant Pentecostal Church' and her 3 dysfunctional children (Tabitha, Hogan and Kirk), her pastor (Pastor Jakob Huyck) who develops a crush on Tabitha, a choir director (Jeremy) in the adjoining Catholic Church (Our Lady of Something or Other) and his gay friends Sean and Marty. Jeremy has never gotten over his love for Willem, who is now married with the perfect family. Jeremy is also the twinkle in the eye of Kirk, the youngest of Mrs. Scales' three children.
And, there are the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mysteries, (Mother Clare du Plessix, Sister Alice Coyne, Sister Maria Goretti, Sister Jeanne d'Arc, Sister Felicity, Sister Perpetua, Sister Clothilde, Sister Magdalene). I have to admit the Sisters were my favorite characters. They were smart, funny, witty and sincere.
One of the more interesting passages for me came from Mother Clare when she was speaking to Jeremy and his friends:
"The whole notion of the cloister still espcaes you, doesn't it? At least one of the many reasons one enters is not to escape the world because it is too painful, but because it is too beautiful to bear."