The Fire Gospel (2008 Faber), novel

The Fire Gospel (2008) is a novel by Michel Faber.

Abstract

Theo Griepenkerl, a Canadian linguistics scholar, is sent to Iraq in search of artifacts that have survived the destruction and looting of the war. While visiting a museum in Mosul, he finds nine papyrus scrolls tucked in the belly of a bas-relief sculpture: they have been perfectly preserved for more than two thousand years. After smuggling them out of Iraq and translating them from Aramaic, Theo realizes the extent of his career-making find, for he is in possession of the Fifth Gospel, and it offers a shocking and incomparable eyewitness account of Christ's crucifixion and last days on Earth.

Editions and translations

Published in Edinburgh: Canongate, 2008.

Translated into French (2009):

• Le cinquième évangile (2009 Faber), novel (French ed.)