★★★★★ Pudding Jones by DC Juris ★★★★★
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Blurb…
Award-winning reporter Emmer Richfield is the kind of guy who covers wars, the kind of guy who asks the hard-hitting questions. He is not—and he’s certain about this—the kind of guy who does sappy human-interest stories about homeless people. But his newest assignment is not just any human-interest story, it’s a mandate from the mayor: convince the people of Dodson that Foxton Industries’ plan to build a mall—and oust the homeless population—is a bad idea by way of a feature on a homeless man named Pudding Jones. But Pudding quickly goes from just another story to a man who changes Emmer’s life. The question is, can Emmer return the favor before it’s too late?
So what did I think?
I put off reading this book for quite a long time. The blurb made me uneasy and I was very wary of the potential for some sadness. And I’m not going to sugar coat it. This book made me cry.
It’s a beautiful and tragic story of Pudding Jones and Emmer, the man who interviews him for a local paper. Pudding is homeless but has a heart of gold, choosing to stay surrounded by his ‘family’ of fellow homeless people. He teaches Emmer about what it means to be a good person.
However Pudding is more than his homeless circumstance. Pudding is tragically broken by events in his past. His is a story of sexual abuse but also a story of sacrifices made for love.
There is beauty in the wonderful love shared between Emmer and Pudding, a love that overcomes the differences in their upbringings. Pudding opens up to Emmer, trusting him like he has no other, and Emmer finally opens his eyes to what’s really important in life. Even time spent traveling the world and visiting war zones hadn’t been able to achieve what Pudding did in a few short months.
There is no happy ending but there is something heartwarming about this story. Yes, I wanted the ending to be different but I wouldn’t have missed reading this story, even for all the tears.
Buy Pudding Jones from Amazon.
Buy Pudding Jones from Wilde City Press.