Anne Rice is famous for her best selling Gothic books, namely the Vampire Chronicles Series, of which one (Interview with the Vampire) was adapted from a screenplay into a movie (staring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst). Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history.

Rice shocked the reading world in 2004, when she announced in a Newsweek article that she had returned to her faith in Christ and would from now on “write only for the Lord.” And as a result, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt (the first book in a Trilogy chronicling the life of Jesus) was born.

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, follows the early years of Jesus from age seven. Beautifully written and wonderfully researched, I was instantly immersed in the culture of Jesus’ upbringing and the violence surrounding Jerusalem at the time.

“It is an astonishing child’s eye view – part innocent, part knowing – of the Jewish life in these unruly years of occupation; and of the boy’s growing awareness, first of his extraordinary powers, and then of the whispered mysteries surrounding his birth… We watch him grow, steeped in the laws, rituals and traditions of his people, beginning to discuss an dispute with the Elders, and to ask questions that cannot be answered. And, at the end, we feel the strength of his resolve as the boy comes face to face with the truth about his past and the challenge of his future.”

At first I found it unusual to be reading in ‘first person’, but I soon became totally involved in the story. Jesus is portrayed as a young and innocent Jewish boy who is totally aware of his humanity, but also aware of the supernatural power within him. He is also trying to understand the mystery surrounding his birth (no one seems to want to talk about it), and the realisation that he isn’t quite the same as everyone else.

For some reason I had never fully pondered the journey Jesus would have taken in discovering who he was… did he always know who he was? If not, when did he realise the truth? I found myself eagerly anticipating his discoveries and emotionally caught up in certain situations. There were quite a few late night’s reading, as I just could not put the book down!

The story seemed somewhat slow in parts, but some may say this added to the beauty of the journey. The writing was simple, which I actually enjoyed, as too many descriptive words can be off-putting at times.

Now of course, any historical fiction story about Jesus Christ will be controversial, but there wasn’t too much in this that I found offensive. No one really knows what Joseph and Mary were really like (or any of the characters portrayed), but it is intriguing to imagine the relationship they shared together and with Jesus himself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. My knowledge of Jewish history was expanded and my faith was deepened. I enjoyed it so much that I went straight out and bought book number two in the trilogy. While not an intense page-turner, it is a deep and thoughtful, well researched book that I am sure everyone would find impacting to some degree.

Anne Rice is still writing supernatural historical fiction – and it is amazing. It has been expertly researched (which give such a wonderful historical aspect), and the character development is mature and well thought out.

I also loved reading the Author’s Note at the back of this book – I can’t say I have ever said that about any other Authors note in my life! Anne Rice shares openly about her journey of faith and also of the many hours of research that was put into this book.

“This is a book I offer to all Christians – to the fundamentalists, to the Roman Catholics, to the most liberal Christians in the hope that my embrace of more conservative doctrines will have some coherence for them in the here and now of the book. I offer it to scholars in the hope that they will perhaps enjoy seeing the evidence of the research that’s gone into it… I offer this book to those who know nothing of Jesus Christ in the hope that you will see him in these pages in some form. I offer this novel with love to my readers who’ve followed me through one strange turn after another in the hope that Jesus will be as real to you as any other character I’ve ever launched into the world we share. After all, is Christ Our Lord not the ultimate supernatural hero, the ultimate outsider, the ultimate immortal of them all?”

Click here to visit Anne Rice’s website.

The following clip is Anne Rice’s explanation to her fans as to why her days writing non-Christian horror novels are over… Very inspiring.