by Simon Mawer
First published 2005
Father Leo Newman receives an extraordinary assignment. Scholars have found a papyrus scroll among the Dead Sea discoveries, and they need his expertise in Koine Greek to determine its authenticity. The document claims to be written by Youdas the sicarios in the first century AD. It presents itself as the real story of Jesus, told by Judas Iscariot himself. Newman begins his painstaking translation work, but the text forces him to confront uncomfortable parallels in his own life. He remembers his forbidden attraction to a married woman and recalls his mother's wartime affair in Rome that ended in tragedy. As Newman delves deeper into Judas's account, the ancient betrayal begins to mirror the betrayals in his family history. The scholar must decide whether the scroll is genuine while wrestling with how its contents challenge everything he believes about faith and loyalty.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, thriller, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Dead Sea, Rome
Period: 1st-century-AD, 20th-century
345 pages · Paperback · Abacus