INTERNATIONAL BOOKS

Fiction

Damascus

Christos Tsiolkas (Allen & Unwin, $37)

Imagining the world in the first century AD (not yet called that), it’s difficult to envision Christianity (not yet called that) when it was considered a “blasphemous cult”. It’s 35AD in Jerusalem and Saul, a Jew, is hunting down Christians for execution. Three other characters (also narrators), who live in territory controlled by Rome, are greatly affected by Saul. (I’ll eschew a potential spoiler, but don’t read the back cover.) Tsiolkas – an atheist, humanist and award-winning author (, ) – did 14 months’ research, and the world he creates feels real. He intends to shock us into grasping the era’s brutality by depicting everything from gang rape to murder as entertainment. Stomach-churning violence aside, this is an, er, hell of a book, skilfully exploring themes of faith, doubt, identity, shame, class and compassion.