Purvis Driggers is a South Carolina Low Country loser. With little
judgment and even less chance for a decent life beyond his parents'
house, home town, and whatever part-time work he can scrounge up, he's
sure he's figured a way out: Rob an old man of the rumored millions
hidden in his house. But all he finds is the old man dead and the money,
if there was any, already gone.
Disappointed and defeated, Purvis is drawn to the sound of music across
the creek. There, he discovers a beautiful woman in a white gown being
baptized in the water. Surely Martha, beautiful Martha, will give Purvis
the escape he imagines. With the Martha boat come to his rescue, Purvis
decides, he'll never have to worry about drowning.
But Martha Umphlett is trapped, too. Married and just as quickly
divorced, Martha's been condemned to return to the home she d once
escaped. Made to take care of her obese mother, and forced to
participate in a baptism she has no interest in whatsoever, Martha, in
her own way, is every bit as desperate as Purvis, but far more capable
and a good deal more dangerous.
Their paths cross with that of Brother Andrew, a monk at a nearby
monastery whose call more and more is not to God, but to nature, and
more importantly, to somewhere else. He wanders the swamp to watch
birds, practice archery, and meditate, but it becomes clearer and
clearer to him that the answers he seeks are not to be found in his
monastery, his vow of silence, or the life he has thus far known. But
maybe the answer is in the girl he, too, sees being baptized across the
creek. Perhaps Martha will make Andrew happy.
All three want and need something different in their lives, but the
paths they will take are neither clear nor pretty, and they will not end
well.
Infatuated with Martha, and certain she's the answer to his dreams,
Purvis sets out to do whatever is necessary to prove his love, all the
while terrified that the FBI will pin the old man s murder on him. Is he
demented, or just crazy with love? Does Martha care for Purvis, or will
she simply exploit him? Is Brother Andrew straying too far toward both
of them and too far away from his faith? And just what is necessary for
Purvis to prove himself to Martha?
Told from the characters' alternate points of view, this darkly humorous
story wends its way through a web of murder and dismemberment, a twisted
love triangle, and a woodland monster known as the Hairy Man.
As funny as it is sad, as beautiful as it is ugly, as authentic as it is
shocking, and as powerful as anything you'll ever read, Ron Cooper's
Purple Jesus is a murder mystery, a love story, a religious allegory
and, most importantly, a dark and comic descent into the lives and world
views of three unbelievable and unforgettable characters.
