Auspicious debut novel ‘Book of Jonah’ not just a religious tale, says author

TORONTO – Joshua Max Feldman’s debut novel “The Book of Jonah” may be based on a Biblical tale, but the author hopes readers don’t pigeonhole it as a “religious novel.”

“I think if it gets put in that bucket, it’s weird to say, but there’s a certain stigma,” the 35-year-old South Florida resident said during a recent interview at the office of his Toronto publisher.

“To be frank, I don’t cruise the religious aisles of bookstores either … what I try to do in the book is to show issues that dovetail into what you’d call religious issues … religious questions and quandaries. I wanted to show those playing out in people’s lives.”

Rooted in the Old Testament story, Feldman’s novel follows the journey of high-powered Manhattan attorney Jonah Jacobstein, who, while dealing with a messy personal life and attempting to make partner at his firm, suddenly experiences a series of strange events that he ultimately believes to be divine interventions.

Jonah’s quest takes place alongside a second narrative that traces the life of Judith Klein Bulbrook, a brilliant only child who seems bound for greatness until her parents are killed in one of the 9-11 plane crashes.

The two characters face sweeping spiritual dilemmas. Feldman says he has noticed a lack of public discussion about faith, and the idea of what religion should mean to someone living in the 21st century is something that clearly intrigues him.

“Those questions really interest me, the questions of where we stand in the universe and what our relationship is to the divine, and however it could be characterized and how all that filters down to daily life and doing the right thing on a daily interpersonal basis.”

The author himself comes from a mixed religious background, and was raised Jewish in Amherst, Mass., by social-psychologist parents who had a certain “academic skepticism” toward faith.

His novel was originally conceived as a retelling of 10 Biblical tales. But Feldman says the story of Jonah soon took on a life of its own.

“I think what really appeals to me about (the story of Jonah) is that it’s really a portrayal to me of a recognizable human being in this impossible situation,” said Feldman, also a playwright.

“The first thing that happens in the book, is that God tells Jonah, you have to go to the other side of the ancient world, you have to deliver this prophecy to this hostile city … and Jonah runs screaming in the opposite direction and I think there’s something about that that rings really true.”

“The Book of Jonah” has received strong reviews, with critics calling it “audacious,” “beguiling” and “deeply impressive.”

Although the story jumps from Amsterdam to Paris and Las Vegas, it’s deeply rooted in New York City, where Feldman resided for many years. He was there on Sept. 11, 2001, and remembers watching the Twin Towers burn from the rooftop of the apartment building where he lived with roommates.

The author says he’s come to realize the impact of that day resonates through “The Book of Jonah” more than he initially thought it did.

“As I’ve reflected on it, I think that that was the first moment for me and people my age where we did have that experience of a sort of true historical tragedy. I didn’t live through assassination or the Vietnam war. For me and I think for a lot of people around my age … it was the first moment of true horror, the events of the world around us affecting me personally.

“And I think some of that feeling of fragility and that things that seem impossible can suddenly become demonstrably possible works its way into the novel in a way I wasn’t really fully conscious of when I wrote it. “

“The Book of Jonah” (Bond Street Books) is in stores now.