I have no idea why this is touted as being for people who loved A Man Called Ove. It is a translated novel. Period. End of similarities. I read it so quickly only because we are completely stuck at home and another book came in from a library hold mere hours after I had borrowed this one.

The story is about an atheist PR executive (Alice) who decides to help her friend, a Catholic priest, revitalize his church. I held my breath when this was laid out, unsure how Christianity was going to fare in the process. Alice is transformed, but I'm not sure into what. The book is very much about exploring Jesus' teachings and comparing the wisdom found there to other beliefs, primarily Taoism. In her first study of the Bible as she begins her project, Alice makes some very valid observations about Christians, which I liked quite a lot. But, as she explores further, the book gets very dense and contains ideas that will trouble some Christians. As a character, Alice is not particularly likable, but bossy and way too sure of herself. She says she loves her husband and child, but they are hardly in the book so that rings as superficial as she appears. Besides all that, it is like reading a text book for pages at a time as Alice interviews scholars. I definitely skimmed most of this book.

Terrible Christian propaganda... in novel form.

4.75 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

This was fun and different. Alice, a PR whizz, sets out to help her childhood friend Jeremy get more people to come to mass. She then travels through various global beliefs to work out what does work and doesn’t work while challenging her atheism. Such a different story and really enjoyable. Also set in the French countryside which never hurts!