It may come as a shock to some of you to hear an editor on BCL recommending a book about Jesus that was written by a woman who became famous by writing vampire novels. So perhaps a bit of biography is in order.
Anne Rice grew up in the Roman Catholic Church, but spent most of her adulthood as an avowed atheist. In the late 1990s, she felt an attraction back to the Christian faith, and in 2004 she gave her life to Christ. Since then she’s said she’ll write “only for the Lord.” Her Christ the Lord series is the result. The first of the series, Out of Egypt, chronicles Jesus’ childhood. The Road to Cana is Rice’s follow-up. It picks up with Jesus at around age 30, and includes his baptism by John, his temptation in the wilderness, and the miracle of turning water to wine at the wedding in Cana.
In a stunning act of confidence, Rice chose to write the series in the first person–with Jesus as the narrator. That’s a recipe for disaster in the hands of a beginner; but Rice does a great job. Jesus is multidimensional and complicated and thoroughly orthodox. The author’s desire is to emphasize the humanity of Jesus. So while she assumes his divinity, we get a good long look at what it might have been like for God to be a man and walk among us. This is what makes the book difficult to engage at times, but also what makes it valuable.
I recommend The Road to Cana to pastors, Bible study teachers, small group leaders–anyone who has the responsibility of bringing the Bible to life for others. Rice paints the first-century Jewish and Roman world–including the political turbulence and religious diversity of the era–in striking detail. That alone makes it worth the read. But more than that, it’s an imaginative engagement with the life of Christ from a faithful writer.
Take the book for what it is: fiction. Readers may find some of the fictional elements difficult to imagine. For example, much of the book’s conflict involves Jesus’ romantic attraction to a female character, Avigail.
His feelings are appropriate and believable, as is their relationship. Rice remains faithful to history, tradition, and most importantly, the Scriptures. But it can be hard nonetheless (it was for me) to imagine Jesus as that human.
In the end there is treasure to be found in The Road to Cana if you read graciously.
