In the intricate, elegantly written The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé (Waiting for the Waters to Rise; Of Morsels and Marvels), a miracle child searches for the mission that will bring meaning to his life and finds it in ordinary existence. A couple who has desperately longed for a child finds newborn infant Pascal in a stable one Easter morning. The child is beautiful, and of indeterminate but apparently mixed race, and he becomes the subject of rumors that he may be the younger son of God. He begins to understand, as he grows and learns about his marvelous origins, that there is something he should do to make the world a better place. But even though stories of miracles begin to be attributed to him, he can't discover what that something might be.
Condé starts by hitting the major beats of the Gospels: a humble yet remarkable birth, healings, feeding the multitudes and acclamation from the masses--followed by ridicule and betrayal. But in this meditative bildungsroman, the potential messiah, once he discovers his origins, searches in vain for his purpose and for connection with his biological father. There is meaning in and of itself in the friendship and love he discovers during his search. This meditative novel, translated from the French by Richard Philcox, will leave readers with much to ponder: Is Pascal ordinary after all, or could it be that the whole world is extraordinary? --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library