When Purvis Driggers, a South Carolina Low Country loser with little judgement and even less chance for a decent life beyond his parents' house, home town, and whatever part-time work he can scrounge up, seeks to rob an old man of the rumoured millions hidden in his house and fails, he's drawn to the sound of music across the creek. There, he discovers a beautiful woman in a white gown being baptised 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. 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. As funny as it is sad, as beautiful as it is ugly, as authentic as it is shocking, and as powerful as anything you will ever read, Ron Cooper's Purple Jesus is a mystery, a love story, a religious allegory, and, most importantly, a dark and comic descent into the lives and world views of these unbelievable and unforgettable characters.