I would like to take a moment to talk about Joseph and Mary, as some readers may find this portrayal unfamiliar or even somewhat unsettling. In truth, everything we genuinely know about Joseph and Mary comes from the Bible.
Concerning their backgrounds, all we know about Joseph is that he was a righteous man from David’s lineage, betrothed to Mary, and a carpenter living in Nazareth of Galilee. As for Mary, we know she was a virgin living in Nazareth, betrothed to Joseph, and a relative of Elizabeth, who was married to the priest Zechariah.
While we can infer something of their character from their words and actions, the Bible tells us little about their origins. Some people draw on oral traditions or apocryphal writings to fill in these gaps. For example, the “Protoevangelium of James” describes Mary as the daughter of Joachim and Anna from the tribe of Judah, dedicated to lifelong virginity, raised in the temple, and married to Joseph—a widower with children. According to this account, Mary gave birth to Jesus as a virgin and remained a virgin throughout her life.
Whilst there may be some truth in these stories, they could also be far from reality. Like the Old Testament pseudepigrapha, most New Testament apocrypha were not accepted as scripture due to questionable content. They can offer historical context, but should be approached with caution.
It might have been easier to write this story using the “Protoevangelium of James” as a source. However, I deliberately avoided this approach because those accounts present Joseph and Mary as almost superhuman, unrealistically holy figures. Knowing that only God is truly good, I wanted to depict them as ordinary people—people who stumble and make mistakes, even in small matters, rather than as flawless saints.
People like us: who laugh when happy, get angry when upset, make mistakes, misunderstand, but can admit when they are wrong. People who can set aside their own desires when called by God. Not extraordinary people chosen because they are special, but ordinary people who became special by responding to God’s call. Most figures in the Bible are ordinary people like us.
For this reason, most of this novel is filled with stories of such ordinary people, and it contains a good deal of fiction. In particular, chapters 1–28, before Jesus’ public ministry begins, include much more creative content than later chapters. Whilst these parts are based on facts, they are not historical fact themselves, so please bear in mind that these sections are fictional. I encourage you to focus on the background and context, rather than taking every event as literal truth.
