Second volumes in trilogies are tricky things. The excitement of discovering new characters and a new world from the first book are gone, and the most climactic events are often reserved for the final volume. Kenny Kemp fails to overcome some of these problems in the otherwise enjoyable novel City on a Hill. It is the second in the Parables of the Carpenter trilogy, a nationally published historical fiction series, imagining events in the young adulthood of Jeshua (Jesus of Nazareth), before the years of his formal ministry.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first volume of the series, The Welcoming Door. Kemp showed considerable bravery by inventing scenes and imagining the thoughts of a young Jesus. He boldly portrays Jesus not as a teacher, his role in most of the gospels, but instead as a common laborer or an older sibling, and thus imagines answers to the "What would Jesus do?" question in a variety of workaday situations to which a reader might relate. He created a Jesus who was both endearingly mortal (he playfully teases his younger brothers and feels frustration during difficult jobs), but was also inspiringly wise and kind, befitting a son of God preparing for his ministry. Also, Kemp used the parables as jumping-off points to create three increasingly complex stories, imagining full and surprising back-story lives for characters introduced only briefly in the scriptures. Kemp succeeded at creating an appealing "inspirational" book without resorting to cheap emotional fireworks.

Kemp uses a significantly different format in City on a Hill. Rather than three stories based firmly on well-known parables, connected only by Jeshua's presence, Kemp produces a unified narrative, with only a faint connections to two lesser-known parables. The setting is Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee, where Jeshua is a craftsman working on a Roman basilica. There he becomes involved in a complicated mesh of plots and counter-plots, involving King Herod Antipas, a Roman governor, a rich Jewish landowner, a Greek official, Jewish laborers, and others. The story is fairly interesting, and Kemp is a skillful wordsmith, but the complicated plot is sometimes confusing. Part of the problem is that Kemp seems to be setting things up for the final volume, which takes away from the impact of the second book itself. And most problematic, the abundance of characters and the details of their plotting takes "screen time" away from Jeshua, the best-drawn, most interesting character.

One of the things that made the first book so involving was Kemp's description of Jeshua changing the hearts of some very bad people. He did it through love, helping the lost souls see the larger implications of their actions, and teaching them empathy for others. This time, Jeshua hardly spends any extended time with anyone. There is only one successful "conversion" in City on a Hill, and it is a muddle, with none of the emotional impact of the conversions in the first novel.

As I mentioned, Kemp does not focus on the parable-stories as much this time. In the first, it was interesting to see what happened after the stories as we know them in the Bible, and the religious messages of the parables were central to the plot. This time the parables feel secondary at best, and their central messages (forgiveness and prayer in this case) do not play major roles in the story.

Still, Kemp is doing a very interesting thing here, and if it seems like book two is mostly setting up the last volume, well maybe that last volume will be great. There are some very nice parts. Almost all the passages featuring Jeshua interacting with his family are effective. I also like the parts which describe Jeshua's inner struggles with the burden of his calling, the nature of which he still does not completely understand. Worst of all, he is haunted by visions of future apocalyptic battles, with some of the people fighting in his name. The portrayal of his fears, and the way they are eventually soothed, is very nicely done.

Finally an observation. Although I saw the first volume in many mainstream and Christian book stores, and read several reviews, I have never seen this one on any shelves, and have seen very little public reaction. I wonder why Harper San Francisco seems to be doing little to promote the book.

-----------------------------------

Andrew Hall
November 30, 2004