Lent is coming to an end and soon the Easter season will be upon us. There is a shift from repentance and sacrifice towards the joy and celebration of the resurrection of Christ. And while this is a joyous time, it is also a time for deepening spiritual growth and reflection. In that spirit, Mullen library has curated a selection of titles with a special focus on Easter through the lens of literature. This collection spans from theological writings to popular genre fiction. Though Easter may not be the first holiday that comes to mind for leisure reading, there are some amazing classics, as well as some modern genre fiction, that celebrate the story and spirit of Easter. Some of these titles will be very obvious in their connection, set in the time of Christ and his crucifixion, while others focus on personal stories of redemption and grace. For those who are less inclined to fiction, we have reviewed a selection of theological texts exploring the celebration of Easter as a holiday as well as the interpretation of the story as it is told in the Bible. Finally, to bridge the gap between theological texts and fiction, we have a selection of titles that explore Easter and Christ through the lens of literature and poetry. A valuable mindset to help find increased meaning and joy in your leisure reading.

These titles will be displayed on the first floor of Mullen Library beginning March 19th.  Whichever title you choose, Mullen staff wishes you a Happy Easter and joyful reading!

 

Highlighted Reviews

 

The Holy Week book by Eileen Elizabeth Freeman; and illustrated by George F. Collopy (Resource Publications, 1975, Theological non-fiction)

A blast from the past, this title may not be your typical Easter read, but for those interested in a more vintage Easter, this book provides a unique look at the celebration of Easter in the 1970s. Written as a source book for parishes’ celebrating Easter, it contains over forty traditional cross designs, songs for the Holy Week, and a selection of essays and instruction on celebrating Holy Week. And while that was it’s original use, anyone interested in religious iconography, traditional Easter hymns and traditions (alter bread recipes!), or brushing up on their theological knowledge of Easter could benefit from this book. Honestly, it’s worth picking up just to see the uniquely 1970 woodblock style illustrations that grace the beginning of each chapter; they are a delightful surprise. 

I have called you by name by Jerry B. Jenkins (Broad Street Publishing, 2021, Biblical fiction)

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to meet Jesus in real life? Wondered how those who followed Jesus felt in their day-to-day lives? I Have Called You by Name, the first of The Chosen series, is an answer to those questions. Written by best selling Christian author Jerry Jenkins, best known for his Left Behind series, Jenkins takes us back in space and time to first century Galilee to tell the stories of those destined to become part of Jesus’s inner circle. With a deft hand, Jenkins infuses the story with historical language and customs that bring a richness to the story, giving the reader a real sense of everyday life in Galilee. Jenkins’s takes his time, balancing wit and wisdom as he crafts engaging narratives that pull you into the life of Christ and his New Testament followers. Book one is an inviting start to the series. 

The Robe by Lloyd Cassel Douglas (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1942, Biblical fiction)

One of the best selling books of the 1940’s, The Robe was inspired by a letter asking author Lloyd Cassel Douglas what he thought happened to Christ’s garments after the crucifixion.

The book take place in the aftermath of the crucifixion of Jesus and is told from the perspective of Roman tribune Marcellus Gallio and his Greek slave Demetrius. Marcellus is ordered to Jerusalem where he must carry out the crucifixion, though he believes Jesus to be innocent. Marcellus and Demetrius come into the possession of the robe worn by Jesus. Believing it is imbued with power, they follow the path of Jesus in search of his followers and find themselves changed forever. This is a beautiful piece of storytelling about finding faith and redemption, even when it may cost you everything. A perfect read for the Easter season.  

Easter stories: classic tales for the holy season compiled by Miriam LeBlanc; woodcuts by Lisa Toth (Plough Publishing House, 2015, Easter through the lens of literature )

This book is explores the lessons and meaning of Easter found in everyday stories, from fairy tales to animal fables. At this time of year when you may want a little more from your leisure reading, Easter Stories is a reminder that fiction is a perfect vessel for wisdom and joy. It is also a lesson that can transcend the Easter season, giving readers new insights in their everyday reading. “Definitely read these stories at Easter, but keep the book close and pull it out whenever you and your family need a reminder of the great Easter themes of transformation, reconciliation and the triumph of life over death.” – National Catholic Register

 

Chocolat: a novel by Joanne Harris (Penguin Books, 2000, Fiction in the spirit of Easter, Magical Realism/Romance)

Set in a small French village, Chocolat’s story revolves around the Lent and Easter season. Exploring where the lines of indulgence and joy should be drawn and when they should remain open. 

When the newcomer, Vianne, opens up a chocolate shop during Lent, she sets the village ablaze with drama. The local priest, Father Reynaud, does not approve; he considers Vianne and her chocolate a threat. Tensions mount through Lent, coming to a head on Easter when Vianne throws a chocolate festival for the village.  

Chocolat is an engaging story that flirts with magic and unfolds like a fairy tale, reminding us that those in power should wield it with care. Harris’s cast of quirky and endearing villagers balance the tension, and the food writing is so good you can almost taste the chocolate though the page. Chocolat will sweep you off your feet and have you dreaming of an escape to France. 

Work like any other by Virginia Reeves (Scribner, 2016, Fiction in the spirit of Easter, Historical/Literary fiction)

Set in 1920’s rural Alabama, this debut novel is the story of Rosco T. Martin’s struggles with guilt and his path to redemption. In a bid to save money and his families failing farm, Rosco uses his skills as an electrician to siphon electricity to his farm. Consequently, a man from the electric company is electrocuted while working on Rosco’s tampered powerlines. This tragedy changes Rosco’s life forever.  Rosco is arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Reeves gives the reader a front row seat to Rosco’s tormented mind as he struggles to come to terms with his new life. Peeling back the layers of guilt, regret, and shame that Rosco must confront before he can do so reveals the depth of his transformation. Rosco is complex and sometimes unlikable but that touch of humanity is what makes the journey so engrossing.

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Theological Non-Fiction

 

Easter: a guide to the Eucharist and hours by Kevin W. Irwin (Liturgical Press, 1991)

Msgr. Kevin Irwin was a Catholic University of America faculty member for several decades in the of School of Theology and Religious Studies including a tenure dean from 2005-2011. This book begins on Good Friday and continues through to Pentecost with weekly guidance through the Easter Season.

“Emphasizing the flexibility of the rites revised since Vatican II, Fr. Irwin comments on the day, its themes, and the readings, prayers, gestures, and symbols traditionally used in each Easter liturgy. These commentaries are divided into six parts: the liturgical context, the Eucharist, the celebration of the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours, the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, and reflection.” – Inside Flap

Resurrection: interpreting the Easter Gospel by Rowan Williams (Pilgrim Press, 2002)

“Now after reading this book I am convinced that the author is one of the more important and profound of contemporary Anglican theologians. He lectures in Divinity at Cambridge. But this book results from the Lent Lectures he gave in Stepney in 1981. It knot, he says, so much an edited transcript of the lectures as the fruit of discussions and explorations initiated by those lectures. I would classify Canon Williams, if I may be excused the impertinence, as original traditionalist in theology. I mean this as the highest of compliments. Theologians ought to be traditionalists, because their subject is a tradition, which it is their business to study, to interpret and to hand on, if possible, even fresher than they received it. This is where the gift of originality comes in, a gift which Canon Williams so fortunately enjoys. There is hardly a cliche, and certainly not a single dusty, dehydrated thought in his book.” –  New Blackfriars

The first day of the week: the mystery and message of the empty tomb of Jesus by Robert A. McKenzie (Paulist Press, 1985) 

“Many studies of the first Easter attempt some harmonization, however vague, of the widely variant accounts in the Gospels. This book does not. McKenzie, a Presbyterian pastor in Berkeley, California, is convinced that “we do a great disservice” to the Gospels in trying to conflate them, for each version of the resurrection reflects the evangelist’s particular conviction or theology. As remedy, McKenzie offers four different Easter accounts as recorded, respectively, by Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. The four vantage points are presented in simple narrative style (with some elaboration and commentary tucked in unobtrusively), followed by brief critical postscripts.” – The Christian Century

The liberating mission of Jesus: the message of the gospel of Luke by Dario López Rodriguez; translated from the Spanish by Stefanie E. Israel and Richard E. Waldrop (Pickwick Publications, 2012)

“Overall the book presents an interesting perspective on the theme of liberation in the Gospel of Luke. The dehumanization of the marginalized is brought to the fore by the author’s examples from the gospel account. He raises important challenges for the contemporary church in regards to how to address issues of social Justice. While a more concretely defined understanding of the theme of liberation would have enhanced some of the chapters, the book is an illumination of the author’s pastoral heart for the poor whom he ministers on a regular basis. This is an important step towards a deeper understanding of a Christian worldview from a global perspective. Non-western approaches to exegesis such as this are invaluable for developing a more holistic approach to mission and the Church’s response to the poor and marginalized.” – Pneuma

Biblical Fiction

 

Ben-Hur: a tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace (Mead, 1953)

“Since its first publication, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ has never been out of print. It outsold every book except the Bible until Gone With the Wind came out in 1936, and resurged to the top of the list again in the 1960s. By 1900 it had been printed in thirty-six English-language editions and translated into twenty others, including Indonesian and Braille.

The novel intertwines the life of Jesus with that of a fictional protagonist, the young Jewish prince named Judah Ben-Hur, who suffers betrayal, injustice, and brutality, and longs for a Jewish king to vanquish Rome. It has the appeal of a rollicking historical adventure combined with a sincere Christian message of redemption.” – Humanities

Jesus of Nazareth: how he understood his life by Raymund Schwager; translated by James G. Williams (Crossroad Publishing, 1998)

“Teenagers wear bracelets that ask “What would Jesus do?” Jesuit Fr. Raymund Schwager, professor of dogmatics at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, asks a more nuanced historical question: What did Jesus think?

While clearly acknowledging that he is writing fiction, Schwager tries to capture all the inner thoughts of Jesus with a tissue of quotes from the Hebrew scriptures. Besides displaying considerable erudition, this device underscores Jesus’ Jewish roots. He came to fulfill the law because he believed utterly in its purpose and spirit.

Schwager is aware of the literal meanings of the texts, but he feels no constraint to follow them. His poetic license serves his purpose well. In the hands of one unlettered, this would be fundamentalism, but Schwager is no more arbitrary than Matthew’s frequent insertion, “This was done to fulfill the scriptures.”- National Catholic Reporter

On living stone: Salome’s story by Heather Kaufman (Bethany House Publishers, 2026)

Kaufman crafts a rich backstory for the biblical Salome, mother of the apostles John and James, with the thrilling latest in the Women of the Way Series (after Before the King). Set along the banks of the Gennesaret River in first-century Israel, the novel follows Salome from her childhood as the only daughter of a widowed stonemason. With her sharp tongue and wild spirit, she’s dismissed by her fellow villagers as unmarriageable, but her father sees in her the potential to become the mother of “mighty men.” After falling in love with a fisherman, she raises John and James amid the social unrest stirred up by Roman control of Judaea. Rumors start to spread of a carpenter’s son from Nazareth baptizing followers in the name of God, and then her sons commit to following the new prophet. Salome is caught at the center of a divided community and must decide whether to also devote herself to the charismatic preacher. Kaufman vividly evokes the chaos of an ancient Israel torn apart by religious and political strife and draws out the emotional stakes of discipleship as Jesus challenges everything Salome once thought to be true. The result is a unique and captivating resurrection of a little-known woman of scripture.” – Publishers Weekly

The centurion’s wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke (Bethany House Publishers, 2009)

“Janette Oke has dreamed for years of retelling a story in a biblical time frame from a female protagonist’s perspective, and Davis Bunn is elated to be working with her again on this sweeping saga of the dramatic events surrounding the birth of Christianity … and the very personal story of Leah, a young Jewess of mixed heritage trapped in a vortex of competing political agendas and private trauma… This epic drama is threaded with the tale of an unlikely romance and framed with dangers and betrayals from unexpected sources. At its core, the story unfolds the testing of loyalties—between two young people whose inner searchings they cannot express, between their irreconcilable heritages, and ultimately between their humanity and the Divine they yearn to encounter.” – From Publisher

The Damascus Road: a novel of Saint Paul by Jay Parini (Doubleday, 2019)

“Parini’s fantastic latest (after Empire of Self) recounts the journeys of Paul of Tarsus as told from the apostle’s own perspective and that of his traveling companion, Luke, the Gospel’s author. A deeply intelligent and observant Jew determined to fight the burgeoning “Way of Jesus,” Paul transforms into an advocate for the Christ after a life-changing vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus. Parini details Paul’s clashes with Jesus’s brother James and the apostle Peter, his fraught travels from Jerusalem to Athens to Rome, his continuous struggles with the thorn in his flesh, and Luke’s unflagging efforts to compile an accurate account of Christ’s life. Chapters alternate between Luke and Paul’s perspectives, and in Paul’s chapters his boyhood enthusiasm for pondering the unknown (which continues throughout his life) are rendered as vivid explorations on the nature of divinity, spirituality, and conversion. Paul’s idealistic, often hyperbolized perspective pairs wonderfully with the observations of the more pragmatic but no less faithful Luke. Parini has produced a stellar novel that humanizes the Christian message and its messengers.” – Publishers Weekly

The spear: a novel by Louis de Wohl (Ignatius Press, 1998)

“As someone who has long struggled to focus on spiritual reading, De Wohl’s novels are a great help, and Ignatius Press has done a great service by keeping these books in print for years. While De Wohl published many such works, one has always appealed to me above any other: The Spear. Published in 1955, the novel tells the story of Christ’s Crucifixion and the centurion who pierced his side with a spear. Traditionally, this man has been known as “Longinus,” and he has long been venerated as a saint. De Wohl uses this relatively scant information to great effect, using Saint Longinus as an entrance, not just into the ancient world, but into Jesus Christ’s life and Crucifixion…The form of the novel is striking. The Spear is not a pure hagiography: it does not merely collect legends associated with popular devotion to Saint Longinus. Instead, De Wohl attempts to place readers within Longinus’ world, bringing them to the very foot of the Cross. The book is the fruit of careful study of the Gospels, but it is also a work of imagination. This, I think, is its value. The Spear serves as a lectio divina of sorts, that is, as an opportunity to imagine oneself in the action of the Holy Scriptures.” – European Conservative Magazine

 

Easter through the lens of literature 

 

An Easter sourcebook: The Fifty Days by Gabe Huck (Liturgy Training Publications, 1988)

“The Sourcebook series of anthologies gathers prose and poetry, hymns and prayers from various times and traditions, all centered on a particular theme, from the seasons of the church year to the foundational moments in the life of a Christian. Each collection offers a treasury of wisdom for use in homilies, prayer services, and personal meditation.”-Google Books

The Easter edition covers Easter Sunday through Pentecost. Each week focusing on specific imagery, guiding the reader through prose and prayer during the 50 days of Easter.

Hearing God in poetry: fifty poems for Lent and Easter by Richard Harries (SPCK, 2021)

“This is a wonderful little book. Great spiritual wisdom is to be found in its 184 pages, expressed in beautiful English of crystal clarity. It is not necessary to be a practicing Christian to draw inspiration and comfort from it. Its brevity is the key to its success. Richard Harries, the well-known theologian and former Bishop of Oxford who is now a prominent advocate of human rights on the crossbenches in the Lords, has included carefully selected passages from longer poems. Only the shorter ones appear in their entirety… This book is a gem. As Richard Harries states in his introduction, through these poems we are able “to see something of God everywhere”.” – The House Magazine

Lent and Easter wisdom from G.K. Chesterton: daily scripture and prayers together with G.K. Chesterton’s own words by Thom Satterlee and Robert Moore-Jumonville (Liguori, 2007)

‘”I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder,” wrote Gilbert Keith Chesterton. He was an early 20th-century Catholic man for all seasons, who wrote in a variety of genres, including poetry, biography, fiction, even mysteries. He debated the foremost intellectuals of his day – H.G. Wells. Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell. In this book he is mentor and spiritual guide through the Lenten and Easter season. Quotes from his work are balanced with scripture readings, prayers and suggested exercises in this useful and inspiring book.” – National Catholic Reporter

Living the lectionary: links to life and literature by Geoff Wood. Vol A, B, & C (Liturgy Training Publications, 2003)

“Each Sunday we listen to Gods word proclaimed in the assembly. We ask ourselves, what does this mean for my life and for our world at this time? How is the biblical word, as Psalm 119 suggests, a lamp to my feet and a light to my path? Geoff Wood combines examples from Western literature and his own personal life to help readers connect the Sunday readings for Lectionary Year A to their own experiences. Homilists, Bible study groups, catechists, youth ministers, and RCIA teams will appreciate this book’s ability to shed insight into the wisdom of scripture in postmodern life.” – Publishers Website

Preparing for Easter: Fifty Devotional Readings from C. S. Lewis (HarperOne, 2017)

“Featuring excerpts from C.S. Lewis’s essays, poems, letters, and more, Preparing for Easter invites the reader into deeper contemplation of the miracle of Christ’s resurrection. Each selection in this carefully curated collection draws on a major theme in Lewis’s writings on the Christian life, as well as others that consider why we can have confident faith in the Paschal Mystery. This insightful compilation is intended to help Christians strengthen their faith.” – Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception 

Season of beauty: a Lent and Easter treasury of readings, poems, and prayers (Paraclete Press, 2024)

“Season of Beauty is a compilation of poems, quotes from important Christian thinkers, short readings, and works of art. Editors at Paraclete Press have chosen works mostly from the Western canon, with some meaningful surprises such as a prayer from Oscar Wilde (a writer not known for his Christian faith) and a stunning Japanese print. This is a flexible choice for those who prefer not to follow a daily or weekly plan, but who seek inspiration throughout the season.”- The Presbyterian Outlook

Stories for the Christian year edited by Eugene H. Peterson (Maxwell Macmillan International, 1994)

“The Christian calendar provides the skeleton for this collection of stories by diverse Christian writers. The contributors, who include Emilie Griffin, Walter Wangerin Jr., Calvin Miller, Madeleine L’Engle, and Steven R. Lawhead, assemble annually as the Chrysostom Society. As Peterson states, “For every Christ story there is a Christian story.” These stories begin with the writer’s own memories and reflections, leading the reader from the ordinary to the extraordinary, and the Christ life in which the writer participates, however imperfectly.” – Library Journal

The book of Jesus: a treasury of the greatest stories and writings about Christ edited by Calvin Miller (Simon & Schuster, 1998)

“The latest sibling of Bill Bennett’s Book of Virtues (1993) is one of the best and most focused. Like Bennett’s big hit, it is a hefty compilation of notably high-quality writing whose thrust is, as Bennett’s title suggests, virtuous. Editor Miller, a Baptist clergyman, says his anthology is intended to celebrate the greatness of Jesus Christ according to the Christian understanding of him. Miller draws from the works of well more than 100 writers, from the early Christian fathers to medieval and Renaissance voices, such as St. Francis and Shakespeare, down to moderns, who, besides Christian writers include Ernest Hemingway, of all people. Of course, current evangelical stars Charles Colson and Max Lucado appear (though not controversial ones, such as Pat Robertson and James Dobson), and there are plenty of poems and hymn verses. The selections are arrayed in 10 topical sections, from “Jesus, Who He Was,” through parts concentrating on his life and teachings, to the concluding readings on “Jesus, His Second Coming.” A reverent job well done.” – The Booklist

 

Fiction in the Spirit of Easter

 

A fable by William Faulkner (Random House, 1954, Classic literary fiction)

“A Fable, on which William Faulkner worked from 1944 to 1953, is a magnificent novel, in concept and in drama, characterization and style. Though not easy reading, or immediately transparent, it is resonant with meanings and its gamut of tones is immense. A tremendous venture in symbolic composition, it requires attention like that demanded by fugue or symphony, and should be viewed both closely and in perspective, like great architecture. Besides its complexity of design and symbolic subtleties, there are the difficulties inherent in Faulkner’s characteristic methods. The cryptic narrative unfolds slowly, like experience itself, and details are sometimes multiplied and magnified in a dreamlike vision which intensifies mood but must be closely noted, like concentrated poetry. Thus A Fable will disconcert and perhaps irritate those uninclined to such attentiveness. However, serious readers of fiction will give this novel a high place, though conflicting interpretations will abound.” – Milwaukee Journal (published by Cambridge University Press)

Easter Basket Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, & Barbara Ross (Kensington Cozies, 2023, Cozy mystery) (on order)

“Three stories chronicle the manifold perils of Easter egg hunts.

Meier’s title story reminds you that egg hunts are not just for kids. When the Tinker’s Cove Chamber of Commerce sponsors a raffle offering shoppers a chance to win a basket of goodies for collecting 10 egg-shaped stickers from local merchants, local reporter Lucy Stone is torn between seeking out stickers and trying to massage the promotion into a newsworthy story. She gets to do both when the basket’s big prize—an egg-shaped miniature from famous sculptor Karl Klaus—goes missing, and she decides that the best way to find it is to interview the participating shopkeepers, collecting stickers at each door. Once the missing egg leads to murder, she gets a juicy story to boot. Hollis’ “Death by Easter Egg” features a child-centered hunt that’s more traditional until Hayley Powell’s grandson, Eli, switches baskets with security guard Raymond Dobbs, who’s playing Easter Bunny at the community egg hunt, and Dobbs dies from anaphylactic shock after eating peanut butter–filled chocolate eggs. Though she’s concerned about Eli’s parents’ laissez-faire parenting, Hayley nevertheless resists saddling toddler Eli with the blame for Dobbs’ demise and sets about finding the real culprit. Ross’ “Hopped Along” features a doting aunt whose 6-year-old nephew, Jack, interrupts his hunt to report finding the Easter Bunny lying dead nearby. Julia Snowden rushes to the scene to find a man in a Peter Rabbit–style morning coat lying in a garden. He isn’t dead, as his subsequent disappearance attests. But murder follows quickly, and finding a solution to the puzzle proves a good deal harder than helping Jack fill his Easter basket.

Another dose of holiday mayhem from a reliable trio.” – Kirkus Reviews

Gilead: a novel by Marilynne Robinson (Straus and Giroux, 2004, Literary fiction)

“Robinson’s first book, Housekeeping (1981), remains an astonishment, leading to high expectations for her longed-for second novel, which is, joyfully, a work of profound beauty and wonder. Reverend John Ames of Gilead, Iowa, a grandson and son of preachers, now in his seventies, is afraid he hasn’t much time left to tell his young son about his heritage. And so he takes up his pen, as he has for decades–he estimates that he’s written more than 2,000 sermons–and vividly describes his prophetlike grandfather, who had a vision that inspired him to go to Kansas and “make himself useful to the cause of abolition,” and the epic conflict between his fiery grandfather and his pacifist father, He recounts the death of his first wife and child, marvels over the variegated splendors of earth and sky, and offers moving interpretations of the Gospel. And then, as he struggles with his disapproval and fear of his namesake and shadow son, Jack, the reprobate offspring of his closest friend, his letter evolves into a full blown apologia punctuated by the disturbing revelation of Jack’s wrenching predicament, one inexorably tied to the toxic legacy of slavery, “For me writing has always felt like praying,” discloses Robinson’s contemplative hero, and, indeed, John has nearly as much reverence for language and thought as he does for life itself, Millennia of philosophical musings and a century of American history are refracted through the prism of Robinson’s exquisite and uplifting novel as she illuminates the heart of a mystic, poet, and humanist.” – Booklist

Her unlikely hero by Valerie Comer (Greenworlds Media, 2023, Christian romance)

“Redemption and second chances abound in this small-town, single-mom romance with a former bad boy set at Easter. Connor Hamelin’s Kansas farm boss offers wages through the winter if he’ll try out for the annual passion play. Connor’s been drifting, but sticking around sounds good. Figuring he can channel Judas, he auditions… and is cast as Jesus. Ugh, but maybe he’ll finally understand all the religious nuts in his life. Single mom Zoey Matthews helps in the wardrobe department for the local passion play as well as participating in crowd scenes with her young daughter. Zoey might be intrigued by the unlikely guy cast as Jesus in this year’s production, but she’s not looking for romance, especially not with an unbeliever too similar to her bad-boy ex. Connor doesn’t deserve a chance to make amends for his past nor another chance at love. He definitely doesn’t deserve the forgiveness of the Savior he’s portraying… but God is a God of redemption and second chances.” – From the Publisher

Jesus of Gramoven by Antonio Perez Esclarin; translated by Dinah Livingstone (Orbis Books, 1980, Literary fiction)

“Jesus of Gramoven is difficult to categorize. It is set out as a novel about a neighborhood leader in a Caracas slum who organizes the community to stand up for their rights, but is betrayed to the security police by a comrade who disagrees with his nonviolent strategy. Inevitably he is abducted and disappears, and the authorities disclaim responsibility. A simple story, typical of what has happened to very many people in different Latin American countries in the last few decades. But the working-class leader is called Jesús; his friends are named Pedro, Juan and Madalena, and the one who betrays him is Judas Martinez. The events described take place in Holy Week; Jesús Rodriguez is arrested coming out of midnight mass on Holy Saturday; and the narrative about Jesus of Gramoven is interspersed with incidents from the Passion of Jesus of Nazareth. Surprisingly, this framework, which appears contrived, is extremely successful, largely due to the vivid description and dialogue which remind us that the author left the academic life some years ago to live in a slum like the one which he describes. So the Passion Story is told from the perspective of the slum.” – International Review of Mission

Rebirth: a fable of love, forgiveness, and following your heart by Kamal Ravikant (Hachette, 2017, Autobiographical fiction)

“Best-selling self-help writer Ravikant (Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It, 2012) offers a thoughtful novel about a young man, Amit, whose estranged father has died a terrible death from cancer. This affects Amit profoundly, causing him to question the choices he has made in his own life and the meaning of any of it. After traveling to India to fulfill his father’s dying wish of having his ashes scattered in the Ganges and rather ironically failing to find enlightenment in a place where so many others have, Amit decides on a whim to make a pilgrimage on the legendary Camino de Santiago Compostela. Along the way in Spain, his fellow pilgrims—wine-guzzling, charismatic Frenchman Loïc, sage Englishwoman Kat, and soulful Roseangela from Brazil—help him work through his inner demons while battling their own. Amit’s hardships are purely spiritual, his Spanish hosts are kind and wise, and his hike is genuinely life changing. With this charming tale, Ravikant, who has made this same pilgrimage, adds a welcome contribution to the rich tradition of enlightenment stories.” – Booklist 

The kingdom by Emmanuel Carrère; translated from the French by John Lambert (Straus and Giroux, 2017, Historical literary fiction) 

“Memoir, fiction, and history combine in a stirring portrayal of the world of the first Christians.

In the 1990s, French novelist, screenwriter, and film producer Carrère (Limonov, 2014, etc.) went through what he calls his “Christian period,” obsessed with matters of faith and prayer. Feeling that he was “touched by grace,” he recorded his thoughts in notebooks and read everything he could to nourish the fervor of his sudden conversion. Now, describing himself as “historical, agnostic,” Carrère draws upon those notebooks as well as diverse historical, biblical, and literary sources to inform his inquiry into the origins of Christianity. Among them are The Life of Jesus by 19th-century historian Ernest Renan, excommunicated because he sought “to give a natural explanation to events that are deemed supernatural”; works by contemporary historian and archaeologist Paul Veyne; historical novels such as Quo Vadis and Memoirs of Hadrian; and even Mel Gibson’s controversial movie The Passion. His most compelling sources are the Gospels of John, Mark, and Luke and the letters and epistles of the demanding, domineering Paul: “I’ve tried to reconstruct what Paul said: the typical discourse heard in the synagogues of Greece and Asia around A.D. 50 by people who converted to a belief that was not yet known as Christianity.” As Carrère portrays him, Paul was “a controversial rabbi,” an irritable, annoying man who could not abide “when people listened to other preachers than him.” Luke comes across as gentler, more temperate and sympathetic. The author examines the Gospels “with a fine-tooth comb,” looking for consistencies, differences, and evidence of their source in a collection of texts known as Q “that tells us how Jesus spoke.” When his own sources fail him, he is “free—and forced—to invent,” which he does, exuberantly. “Christianism was a living organism,” he writes, and it is this organism—protean, fragile, sensational—that Carrère richly re-creates.

A passionate, digressive, empathetic history of religious rebels and the mystery of faith.” – Kirkus Reviews

 

Patricia Ford is a graduate student in the Department of Information Sciences at The Catholic University of America and will earn her Master’s of Science in Library and Information Science (M.S.L.I.S.) degree in the spring of 2027.  Patricia earned her B.S. in Environmental Biology and M.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University.