Cleansing the stain

Abstract

"Cleansing the Stain" is a literary journey into the minds and lives of characters who are involved in a frantic search for the sole purpose of being. The novel concentrates on the lives of a curious family composed of a grandfather, his daughter, and his grandson, who perceive themselves to be stewing in the heat of an ancestral curse. Slightly removed from them, yet eternally linked to them, is the local church pastor, Yakovo koli, who, in the pursuit of internal peace, spends his time persuading himself--and God--that he had little choice in getting into fornication and fathering an illegitimate child as a result. All the major characters seek, in various ways, that pulsating spirit of life which should make their existence meaningful. But the way to happiness lies out of their grasp, until, through the hard school of life, Gabriel, the pastor's illegitimate son, learns that peace can only be found when he stops quarreling with himself, with his relations, and with God.