Twenty Favorite Works of Biblical Fiction
(with one book per figure, in order of their first scriptural appearance, and overlapping considerably with my favorite Jesus novels, devil novels, and angel novels)
God: God’s Wife by Amanda Michalopoulou
The Holy Ghost: Living in Little Rock with Miss Little Rock by Jack Butler
Adam: Extracts from Adam’s Diary and Eve’s Diary by Mark Twain
Eve: The Book of Eve by Carmen Boullosa
Satan: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Cain: Cain by José Saramago
Noah: A History of the World in 10½ Chapters by Julian Barnes
Goliath: Goliath by Tom Gauld
Ezekiel: A Time for Everything by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Gabriel: The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Mother Mary: HIM by Geoff Ryman
Jesus Christ: Jesus Christs by A.J. Langguth
John the Baptist: The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis
various minor New Testament figures: Children of God by Lars Petter Sveen
Mary Magdalene: Requiem by Graham Joyce
Lazarus: Lazarus Is Dead by Richard Beard
Judas Iscariot: Ficciones (in the story “Three Versions of Judas) by Jorge Luis Borges
Pontius Pilate: Pontius Pilate by Roger Caillois
Barabbus: Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist
Ahasverus: The Wandering Jew by Stefan Heym
— March 18, 2024