Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and

Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana

by Anne Rice

If you have read any of Anne Rice's other books, these are nothing like them. These two books fictionalize 2 separate years in Christ's life. The first book, Out of Egypt, is about Jesus as an 8-year-old boy. This family is leaving Egypt and returning to Nazareth. Jesus is just becoming old enough to begin to understand who he is and what he is capable of. He has heard his family talk about some awful thing that happened when he was in Bethlehem, but he doesn't know what happened. Near the end of the book, he finds out. It broke my heart.

The second book, The Road to Cana is about the last few months before the wedding at Cana, his first public miracle. As the book begins, Jesus is an ordinary man and everyone around him is wondering (none too patiently) to see what all the fuss was about surrounding his birth. The scene when Jesus meets Satan in the desert was so well written. You could picture it happening just like that. You meet Peter, Andrew, James, John and Mary Magdelene. Sadly, you also see Joseph die. I loved the first book so much that I was afraid to start the second book. I was so afraid of being disappointed. I wasn't disappointed at all.

Most Catholics are afraid to read this book when I recommend it. But, you can assure anyone who asks that her fiction stays very much within the Catholic beliefs.