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  • Father Sweet

  • Written by: J.J. Martin
  • Narrated by: Craig Lauzon
  • Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (3 ratings)

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Father Sweet

Written by: J.J. Martin
Narrated by: Craig Lauzon
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Publisher's Summary

A shocking tale of secrets, guilt, and clerical child abuse.
 

“God has made you special, but I will show you how to have an extraordinary life. Show you true love, as God intended for our kind.”
 

It’s 1978. Blackburn Hamlet is a typical suburban village in eastern Ontario. In this vibrant Catholic community, life revolves around family and church. Then the safe comfort of both is destroyed by the arrival of a predator priest.
 

When charismatic Father Sweet invites his new favorite altar boy on a camping trip, the boy’s parents insist he go. Trapped in the woods, the boy struggles to evade the priest’s sexual advances. But Father Sweet forces him to make an impossible choice.
 

Twenty-five years later, he is lost, broken, and angry. His father’s death reveals secrets that spur the man to relive his own past. Desiring justice and in need of healing, he discovers, in a daring rescue mission, a way to achieve both.

©2019 Dundurn (P)2019 Dundurn

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Recommended read

J. J. Martin has done something extraordinary. He has taken me back to my youth as a boy in central Canada in the 70's. While my personal context is mercifully different, the mannerisms, references and youthful way of thinking transported me to being a boy again - no small feat for any author.

More importantly, much more importantly, the author has grappled with some of the most profound, enduring and sorrowful issues in Canadian history in a way which avoids self pity, alienating the reader, or moral condescention. Through the narrative of the story, Martin works through very human realizations of sin, our relationship to nature, redemption, institutional policy, fear, Catholicism and religiosity, self-justification, anger, personal boundaries, resolution, and concludes on a path to closure.

While I feel the storey wraps things up a little too, ah, Sweetly, perhaps that's exactly the message Canada needs to transition from pain and horror and silence to recovery. In dealing with these enormously difficult and complex themes, Martin demonstrates intellectual honesty, courage and a commitment to our future together. To that end, this readable, engaging book should find itself in the queue on every nightstand in Canada.

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Amazing audiobook!

This is a truly well-crafted story, and a spot on performance. Both creepy and funny, sad and uplifting, this story sticks with you long after you’re finished.

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