The Madonna and Her Sons

How do you tell your children that their eldest brother is their nation's long promised Messiah? And when? And what is the outcome? Matthew's Gospel in the bible quotes the names of at least four of Jesus' brothers by name and infers a minimum of two unnamed sisters and other passages hint that not all was well in the relationship between Jesus and his family. This novel explores the possible tensions in the family as the young 'Joshua' (Jesus) grows from boyhood through youth to maturity, the exchanges with his cousin John and the inevitable clash with the Jewish and Roman establishment. The youth and three year mission of this 'Joshua' is recounted mainly through the eyes of his mother, now trying to hold her family together through turbulent time in the history and culture of 1st century Israel.