Lazarus of Bethany

Twelve-year-old Lazarus is tending goats near Bethany the night a strange star appears over Bethlehem. Guided by his wise mentor Ebenezar and his devoted sister Martha, he grows into a thoughtful seeker who encounters a mysterious stranger who proves to be Jesus of Nazareth. When Lazarus dies of the palsy and is raised from the tomb, his testimony of life after death alarms the authorities—and sets in motion a plot that carries him across the sea to a new life and a new mission.

• What was it like to die, be raised by Jesus, and then have to keep living? A novel that imagines the untold life of Lazarus.
• Fleshes out Martha, Mary, and Lazarus as real people with childhood dreams, sibling squabbles, and hard-won faith.
• Dramatizes life-after-death and premortal existence through Lazarus's own near-death vision.
• A little-known tradition that Lazarus ended his days on Cyprus becomes the emotional climax of the story.

Perfect for an adult Latter-day Saint reader who enjoys imaginative, doctrine-infused fiction that fleshes out a Gospel figure and dramatizes ideas like premortal life and the spirit world.