Captivity

Uri grows up in the Jewish diaspora of first-century Rome, a bookish, weak-sighted boy whose father does not love him. For reasons no one explains, he is sent with the delegation that carries the Passover tax to Jerusalem, a long and dangerous journey for someone so ill-suited to it. His wanderings take him through Judea and Alexandria, and years pass before he returns to Rome. People keep taking him for more than he is, so he dines with Pilate at one moment, interprets before the emperor at another, and falls into bitter exile at the next. Through his life the novel opens up the daily worlds of the Jewish, Greek and Latin communities and the political intrigues of an age of upheaval, from the years around Christ's death to the Jewish War.

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About the book

Form

Novel

Length

770 pages in the original

Genres

Historical (assigned by AI)

Set in

Italy, Israel, Egypt, 1st century

First published

2005 by Magvető

Author's age

59 when first published

ISBN

9789631424300 (original)

9781632060495 (Restless Books, United States)

9781632061416 (Restless Books, United States)