Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana

✍ Scribed by Rice, Anne

• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: en-GB
• Weight: 267 KB
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9781400043521

✦ Synopsis

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In the New Testament, the miracle at the wedding at Cana-where Jesus turned water into wine-marks the commencement of his tumultuous three-year ministry. In Rice's beautifully observed novel, a sequel to 2005's Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt , however, the wedding miracle is in fact the culmination of an intimate family saga of love, sorrow and misunderstanding. As the novel opens, Yeshua (Jesus) struggles with a sense of restlessness of purpose and a deep love for a comely kinswoman. Waves of isolation sweep over him as he comes to understand that serving the Lord's will takes precedence over the desires of his own heart. Whereas the first novel in this series hewed so closely to Scripture and to the author's meticulous research as to be somewhat arid as fiction, this book, imagining the "lost" young adulthood of Jesus, offers wise and haunting speculation where the Bible is silent. And the final chapters, which pick up the story with the New Testament's accounts of Jesus' baptism, temptation and early miracles, manage to be soulfully insightful even while faithfully tracking the Gospels. Rice undertakes a delicate balance: if it is possible to create a character that is simultaneously fully human and fully divine, as ancient Christian creeds assert, then Rice succeeds. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“A masterful book written by an extraordinary writer at the height of her powers. It deserves to be read for that reason alone. But it also deserves to be read to better understand the most dynamic and important person in human history—Christ the Lord.”
—David Kuo, _All Things Considered

_“Convincing and compelling. Another winner.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“[A] beautifully observed novel . . . Rice undertakes a delicate balance here: if it is possible to create a character that is simultaneously fully human and fully divine, as ancient Christian creeds assert, then Rice succeeds.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred)

“Anne Rice knows how to make that old story come alive for her readers.”
—Susan Larson, The _Times-Picayune

_“A powerful account of Christ’s humanity while staying true to orthodox Christianity. Her well-drawn, believable supporting characters add to a vivid captivating story . . . a novel that both religious and secular audiences can appreciate and enjoy; highly recommended for all fiction collections.”
—_Library Journal _(starred)

“Rice, whose books have sold more than 75 million copies, couples her writing talents with the zeal of a recent convert and a passion for historical research in Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana , an intriguing followup to Out of Egypt . . . Remarkable for Rice’s prose and rich sensory detail.”
—Cindy Crosby, Christianity Today

“[The Road to Cana] succeeds in treating Yeshua’s humanity as an essential part of his divinity . . . And Ms. Rice can deliver hypnotic, incantatory prose that celebrates Yeshua’s ascension. . . . Many readers will be lured by the promise of simply rendered holiness to The Road to Cana.”
—Janet Maslin, _The New York Times
_