Christ the Lord Out of Egypt by Anne Rice

I have just finished up reading Christ the Lord Out of Egypt by Anne Rice. You may have noticed that this book was on my sidebar for quite some time as I worked to finish all of its 322 pages and wrap up the Book Club for September. Here is what the book cover and flap tells you about the book:



"Having completed the two cycles of legend to which she has devoted her career so far, Anne Rice gives us now her most ambitious, and courageous book, a novel about the early years of Christ the Lord, based on the gospels and on the most respected New Testament scholarship. The book's power derives from the passion its author brings to the writing and the way in which she summons up the voice, the presence, the words of Jesus who tells the story." (book flap)


"A riveting, reverent imagining of the hidden years of the child Jesus...A triumph of tone-her prose lean, vivid-and character... Christ the Lord is a cross between a historical novel and an update of Tolstoy's The Gospels in Brief; it presents Jesus as nature mystic, healer, prophet and very much a real young boy...Essentially it's a mystery story, of the child grappling to understand his miraculous gifts and numinous birth... As he ponders his staggering responsibility, the boy is fully believable-and yet there's something in his supernatural empathy and blazing intelligence that conveys the wondrousness of a boy like no other... With this novel, Anne Rice has indeed found a convincing version of him; that is fiction that transcends story and instead qualifies as an act of faith." (Kirkus Reviews - book cover)


This is a christian fiction book based on historical fact about the life of Jesus as a child. It did take me a while to get through this book because I had some difficulty getting into it. I am not very educated on the family of Jesus outside of Mary and Joseph so it was a bit confusing to me and I was questioning often if this or that is true or not. I know that we don't know what the days of Jesus boyhood were like but I think Anne, being the talented writer she is, does paint a good picture of what could have been. It wasn't until near the end of the book that I became more engaged in the book and able to get through it faster. I really enjoyed reading the Author's note at the end. Anne Rice provides a bit of her testimony of what brought her to writing about Jesus and I have to say this made me like the book more. I do not believe this book will be a selection for our book club but just because I don't think it's right for the club doesn't mean you shouldn't try it out for your own. I have a few friends that love this book so it's all different strokes for different folks. I am now into the second book, Christ the Lord, The Road to Cana and have to say it is going better so far. :)

As always if you have any thoughts, please share them with us! Happy Reading!