Sunrise

Patrick Roth tells the unheard story of Joseph of Nazareth as that of a doubter. He recounts Joseph's deep faith and his disobedience to God. At the same time, "Sunrise" explores the possibility of a new beginning. Jerusalem in the year 70 AD: Roman troops threaten to breach the protective walls. The siege of the holy city serves as the starting point for this visually powerful novel, which spans back to the time before Jesus' birth. At the center of the events is Joseph, the husband of Mary, whom the Gospels report obeyed dreams when he accepted his wife and child. Patrick Roth crafts a life for him filled with tensions, a drama between humanity and the numinous. Thirteen years after Jesus' birth, God demands the ultimate sacrifice from Joseph. "Where is the justice in this that I might understand?" he laments in the face of the unfathomable will.