How do you write a novel without thinking? Not easily. But how do you write a novel inspired by the voice of G-D inside you? Easily. All the characters in the novel I can relate to someone I have personally known. Although this work is fiction, what happened between Jose and Luisa did happen to an extent to me. JoAnn, the nurse, is really a fellow actor who is the real deal in life. Iglesias reminds me of Sal who went too early to be with the Lord.
As a believer in Yeshua, I wanted to portray the prejudices of tradition and how a family dealt with the crisis of faith. I knew that my Christian upbringing could only take me so far, but when I discovered that I had a maternal Jewish background I wanted to discover Jesus as a Jew. So “Trial” became a quest to discover who Jesus truly was as a Jew. My eyes were opened to a new world of a Jew speaking to Jews and the conflicts that followed in the search of belief. It has not been easy. Some of my Christian brethren have not liked the idea of my fascination with a Jewish Messiah. For some, it has frightened their belief system of Jesus.
For me, I came to love the Old Testament Jesus in order to love and understand the New Testament Messiah. Be it as it may, “Trial” had to be written to defend the Jewishness of Yeshua. To some, he’s still the Christian Messiah, and not just the Messiah… a Jew. For others, we can see the prejudices that have incurred to both Jew and Gentile. He is still a Jew and will come back to both Jew and Gentile.
Follow as the Sanes family leaves Spain and finally settles in Charleston, South Carolina through this family saga. Enjoy!
Jose Antonio Rivera-Garcia
Orangeburg, South Carolina