Review: The Twin

Kevin St. Jarre, The Twin (Encircle Publications 2021)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58362004-the-twin?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=kdHL0Me5Ya&rank=1

This is an innovative retelling of the life of Jesus as told through the mouth of Didymus Thomas (the Twin), building on three Christian traditions—first, the legend that Jesus studied in India during the ‘lost years’ (between childhood and the beginning of his ministry); second, that St Thomas evangelised India; third, that Jesus lived to a ripe old age in Srinagar.
Travelers come to Bethlehem, following a star. The one they seek is their ‘holy one’ Gyalwa Nagarjuna, ‘returned to be born of man on Earth’. The narrator, Didymus Thomas, acts as guide. They set the child a Dalai-Lama-style reincarnation ‘test’, which Yeshua passes.
Yeshua’s family leaves, fleeing Herod’s wrath, and Thomas follows after, occasionally ‘tempted’ by a traveller called ‘the Other’ urging him to stray, and, as we know, Thomas struggles with ‘doubt’s. And yet, Thomas has another weakness, one he can’t discuss with Yeshua.
He becomes Yeshua’s teacher, and Yeshua becomes his. Yeshua learns wisdom from the Jains and reads the Vedas.
There is quite a lot of repetition of quotes from the NT, many of which I found unnecessary. For someone who has read the NT as many times as I have, the repetition is trying.
It reads a bit like the Gospels, low on plot—people travel from this place to that, certain people come, Yeshua says some wise words, maybe there’s a miracle.
What makes it interesting is the interaction between Yeshua’s philosophy and that of the Indian priests. Also different is that the ‘miracles’ are given believable this-worldly explanations. There are other minor divergences—Yeshua kisses Judas, not the other way around. Mary Magdalen, called Magda here, is quite bolshie, at times. This story’s interpretation of the Bar-abbas scene is more believable than the Gospels’. And the crucifixion is a bit different! As is what went on inside the tomb during those three days, while Yeshua’s body lay there!
I love how it begins, the narrator telling the story of how he acquired this ‘document’. The inclusion of footnotes, as well as the occasional ‘[undecipherable]’, give the impression that the writer really has translated this work from some ancient language, though I thought footnotes were used too liberally, and I would have preferred them at the bottom of the page rather than at the end.
An easy read, people who like reading books about Jesus (like me) will love it.
I received an ARC from Reedsy.