CHRIST THE LORD OUT OF EGYPT by Anne Rice

by Anne Rice. Copyright 2005; Published by Alfred A. Knopf ; 301 pages.

This is a story of a seven to eight year old Jesus, who's lived all his life that he can remember, in Egypt. His father Joseph has received word from an angel in a dream that King Herod is dead and it's time for his family to move back to the Holy Land. They go back to settle in Nazareth. Along their journey they find themselves in the midst of fighting and chaos, the Jews are rebelling against the oppression and cruelty of Herod (I think- I'm not entirely clear what the fighting is about). They attempt to celebrate the Passover in the Temple in Jerusalem but a massacre ensues and they leave town for their safety. It's also about the child Jesus trying to unravel the story of his birth, trying to understand his unexplainable powers, and figure out who he is.

The book does a good job of putting this child Jesus in a warm family environment, and of showing him as a Jew in the location at the time. Anne Rice is always very good at creating the place and time, it's one of the things I love about her books. It helped me to imagine Jesus as a child, as a real person, the environment in which he lived. The Temple with real people coming from miles around to worship, it's size and significance in their lives. It also made me think what it must have been like to be an adult raising this child, which was an interesting consideration. The family is shown to be of strong Jewish faith, and a group to whom God communicates through angels. They are hard working, peaceful, close-knit people.

John the Baptist makes a small appearance but it left an impression on me. I love the child, same age as Jesus, who is quiet and seems to be totally aware of who Jesus is and seems to be in awe of Him. At the same time the young Jesus doesn't know himself.

The story is written in the first person, told to us by the seven year old Jesus. It did not bother me in this book like it did in Remains of the Day, I'm not entirely sure why. The author didn't explain who we are that Jesus is talking to, but there was a comment somewhere which I can't find now, which said something to the effect: he is trying to tell the story through his child eyes. So that was some kind of admission that he was telling us a story, and that an older Jesus was remembering back. And I think this Jesus character would be very likely to tell us his story, where the character Stevens would never tell his.

I didn't buy into the whole thing where the adults in Jesus' life would say something about his birth and Bethlehem, then refuse to tell him more, forbid him even from asking. I know the wondering about Bethlehem was a large part of the story, but I just don't buy that the adults would keep bringing it up if they truly didn't want the child to know the truth. And if they did want him to know the truth, they should have just told him- it would have been better than the way he found out. It's almost like torture to mention it, then clam up without giving him answers. And of course- knowing there are answers to be had, he's not going to stop before he has them. I have raised children, and when I didn't want them to know something, I didn't mention it around them. Still don't. It's not that difficult when it's something that really concerns you.

The author makes Mary a lifelong virgin- sure to be controversial. Personally, I lean towards: probably not.

This is not the best Anne Rice book I've read. It's not a bad book either. I found most of it's value in the placing of the characters in the historical setting. If I were rating on a scale of 5, I'd give it a solid 3.