Angels Descending — Michael Joens

Angels Descending is the story of two American brothers living in England with their family during the mid-sixties. The story chronicles the events leading to, and following, the death of sixteen-year-old Porter 'Pogue" Bushing, a death for which younger brother Matthew holds himself singularly responsible. Matthew is the storyteller, but he does so from two perspectives; one as a fourteen year old budding artist, the other as a middle-aged man (now a world-renowned painter) who has had thirty years to reflect upon that dark time, and preserve it in a body of work that is as luminescent as a pearl. Angels Descending is a bittersweet story about brotherly love, a love at times held in a fist, at times openly self-sacrificing. It is a love full of 'hilarious pain," transcending love of country and women, a love that leads the adult Matt to finally discover the meaning of forgiveness reflected in the face of God.