You have found a bookcrossing book! I hope that you enjoy reading this book, then pass it along to a friend, neighbor, family member, co-worker, or simply leave it somewhere for another lucky reader to find as you did! If this book isn’t the type that you like to read, please be kind enough to help it on its journey.

Please take a moment to leave a journal entry to let me know where you found this book. You may remain anonymous if you wish. After you read the book, please come back and let me know what you thought about it and what you will do with the book when you finish with it. You may come back any time to read where this book has traveled and what others thought about it. Thank you for letting me know where this book has traveled!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

traveling in my historical fiction bookbox

Hi! Rec'd this in Ladybug74's Historical Fiction Book Box today. It will be going back in the box to continue its journey!

I'm taking this from the Historical Fiction Book Box. Looking forward to reading this. Thanks for starting this ladybug74!

From the back:

"A riveting, reverent imagining of the hidden years of the child Jesus...A triumph of tone--her prose lean, vivid...Chist the Lord is a cross between a historical novel and an update of Tolstoy's The Gospels in Brief; it represents Jesus as nature mystic, healer, prophet and very much a real young boy...With this novel, Anne Rice has indeed found a convincing version of him; this is fiction that transcends story and instead qualifies as an act of faith." --Kirkus Reviews

I took this from the box as much as for the cover as the author - the picture is one of those beautiful mummy portraits from Fayum Egypt (specifically a portrait of a young man from the early middle Antonine periord c 138 - 189.) I have a couple of picture books of these portraits and have seen several at art museums. They have inspired several of my fictional characters.

As to the story: I was hooked immediately by the prose - spare and beautiful. Rice does a masterful job of painting a portrait of an extraordinary young boy (Jesus is 7 - 8 years old during the entire book) living an entirely ordinary life. He knows he is different, but his father Joseph forbids him to ask questions. When his extended family leaves Egypt to return to Nazareth, Jesus starts piecing together the mystery of his birth and purpose. I particularly like how Rice portrayed the extended family and their day-to-day life and rituals. Her scholarship shows in the realistic vision she gives to her narrative.

This is going into my "Something for Everyone MTB Book Box"
for someone else to enjoy.

2010 THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE - RELEASE

Picked this up in Something for Everyone MTB Book Box!

Good luck, little book!