A prolific writer whose work spans a variety of genres, Kaethe Schwehn has followed her ideas through in works of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction.
Her newest novel, The Gospel of Salome, is set in a period that those familiar with the Bible will recognize. Schwehn, who teaches writing at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., uses the medium of historical fiction—without attempting to be faithful to the events of the story as depicted in Scripture—to evoke important questions as well as to create a gripping story.
Living Lutheran spoke with Schwehn about The Gospel of Salome (which will be released Oct. 15 by Wildhouse Publishing) and the journey of writing it.
Living Lutheran: Could you tell readers about the new book?
Schwehn: The Gospel of Salome is biblical historical fiction with some rather revolutionary twists. The present moment of the novel is set in 38 C.E. John Mark, a first follower of Yeshua [Jesus], has been sent to Alexandria to proclaim the good news—but instead, he finds a population more in need of immediate help than eternal salvation. The Roman prefect has labeled the Jewish population “foreigners” and “aliens,” and has quarantined them away from the rest of the city. To make matters worse, John Mark is filled with unanswered questions about Yeshua’s death and resurrection. He goes to a physician named Salome for answers—and finds that Salome is in possession of a story about Yeshua that could change everything.
The book moves back and forth between the rising terror in Alexandria and Salome’s story, which begins in Greece and moves to Rome, Nazareth and Jerusalem. Ultimately, both characters must decide what to do with the story once it’s been told.
Where did the idea for The Gospel of Salome come from? What most interested you as you began to write it?
I’ve always loved imagining my way into biblical stories, mostly in the form of poems. Eventually, I wanted to use a canvas that was bigger and permitted more questions, more nuance, more development. A novel permits a depth and breadth of world-building that a poem can’t offer. The book began with wondering, what if “Q”—the [so-called] “lost gospel”—was written by a woman? Who would that woman have been? What would she have been like? Research then sent me galloping off in a million different directions: to Qumran and the Essenes, and then to a hermetic community outside Alexandria. A woman emerged in my writing, but it turned out she wasn’t Q, she was Salome.
I hope the book helps us think together about how to share our faith in a turbulent time.
Although your book involves many biblical characters, the narrative is anything but canonical. What were your reasons for deviating from the familiar story, and how did you make decisions about where to do that?
The Gospel of Salome is a novel; it is not meant to be a replica of the Bible. The Bible stands on its own as a powerful and holy book and does not need me—or anyone—to attempt a paltry facsimile. I hope that there are moments of truth in this book, but as a writer, I fail if I deviate from the truth of the world I’ve created, not if I deviate from the details of the Bible.
That said, anyone who engages the Bible is always making interpretive choices while doing so: to which passages, which characters, which events will we give the most attention? What passages do we believe offer the most wisdom or weight? I think in writing this book, I was asking myself and the reader, what is the deepest truth of your faith? What parts of the story do I or you need to hear, over and over again, to survive, to thrive, to build abundant community?
What do you think your book offers to a Lutheran audience?
John Mark, a first follower, has been sent to proclaim the good news to a Jewish population in the midst of violent upheaval. I hope the book helps us think together about how to share our faith in a turbulent time. I also think Lutherans, especially, will pick up on how vocation plays out for each of these characters.
How are you hoping readers will engage with the book?
I hope it will entertain them. I hope they will sink into the story, warm bath-style, and take a break from the technology that scatters our attentions every which way. I hope they will find something in the book that disturbs them and something in the book that comforts them, and then I hope they will consider what those emotions say about the parts of their faith [to which] they hold most dear. I hope they’ll use the discussion guide at the end to create meaningful conversation with others. In spite of all the deviations, I hope this book reminds the reader that, wherever they are on their journey, they are held, always, by a God who loves them without end.
