Hyssop

Told by Red Greet, an eighty-seven-year-old generous petty thief and guileless con artist, this novel by Kevin McIlvoy stitches together the scraps of a long and wayward life. Red has spent many of his years behind bars in Las Almas, New Mexico, and he looks back on them with a mix of mischief and tenderness. The book weaves together kindness, honesty and a touch of magic, along with a friendship and love that endure and a simple faith that gives meaning to lives with few material comforts.

Red has been married twice. He wed his second wife, Recita Holguin, his lifelong love, while he was in jail. He has indulged in the pleasures open to anyone willing to take life and its temptations without guilt or fear, and his misdeeds have been as colorful as his escapades. He confides them to Bishop Francisco Velasco, his lifelong best friend and confessor, who was also once his rival for the affections of Red's first wife, Cecilia.

Through these recollections of loving and being loved, and of sinning and tempting others to sin, Red searches for hyssop, the substance that might wash his soul clean.