A powerful story set in Galilee with one woman's search for independence and justice set against the unfolding story of a carpenter Yusef, his obstinate wife and 5 children. Cannold portrays life as it may have been for a poor Jewish family around 2000 years ago. Rachael aspires to be more than the servant of men and pursues literacy with the assistance of her brother Joshua.

The author's depiction of the sorry lot of women is underscored by the tale of Maryam which brings into play an interesting variation on early new testament stories. A great read! ( )

http://shawjonathan.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/losorhymo-5-leslie-cannolds-book-of...

This doesn’t so much ring changes on the biblical story as set out to imagine what life would have been for a spirited young woman in the time of Jesus, using the biblical story as a kind of baseline. There is some revisionism: the virgin birth is explained – almost incidentally – by the familiar Roman soldier story; as a young man, Joshua/Jesus comes home late at night smelling of alcohol and women; and there’s an excellent account of the raising of Lazarus. But the aim isn’t to debunk or mock.

Leslie Cannold’s doesn’t take up the Liberation Theology of Mary (here called Miriame) as a revolutionary figure. I doubt if many scholars would take seriously the book’s version of what led Joshua to go on his preaching mission (he was looking for a woman who was pregnant to him, who had been consequently sold into prostitution by her father). It’s clear from this and other examples that this is not an attempt at historical excavation, but a novel. Such pernicketiness aside, I don’t think I’ve ever read an account of the Jesus story that brings home more clearly what it meant to be poor or outcast or female in those times. That was the main pleasure of the book for me, rather than an engagement with the characters, who never quite came completely to life, despite the scattering of cheerful sex scenes. Still, the pleasure was considerable.

Intriguing book set in biblical times in which Cannold invents a sister for Jesus, and has her marry Judas. (Not a spoiler as this info is on the back cover): For my full review, read Whispering Gums at: http://whisperinggums.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/leslie-cannold-the-book-of-rachae... ( )