Book Review: Phoebe – A Story, Paula Gooder, Hodder & Stoughton
‘One day, Quintus, a cousin of Titus arrived at the house…Titus was attractive in a kind, homely way…Quintus was devastatingly handsome…’
In Paula’s fictional account of life in the church in Rome during the New Testament era, we are introduced to well-known characters from the pages of Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters such as Priscilla (shortened to Prisca) and Aquila, Junia and Andronicus, Titus, Phobe herself, and Peter. And others.
Phoebe – A Story is based on three speculative interpretations from Paul’s letter to Romans:
Paul had commissioned Phoebe (Rom 16v1) to carry his letter to Rome, explain its meaning to the believers there, and prepare for Paul’s hoped-for mission to Spain.
Junia (female) and Andronicus (male) were apostles
The evident tension between Jewish believers and their Gentile brothers and sisters in Rome had more to do with Jewish covenantal status than the Law – a nod to New Perspective theology
Whilst the heart of Phoebe is, as its sub-title, A Story, suggests, a story and reads as an engaging imaginative description of life in Rome and is very ably enhanced by the historical research of first-century Roman society, the above three assumptions form the guiding principles that govern the arc of the story.
It is, therefore, a feminist historical fiction, not only weaving a story around hermeneutical interpretations of New Testament literature but also promoting well-argued feminist contentions that all offices and ministries in the church should be occupied equally by men and women.
Phoebe herself turns out to be a far more complex character – with slavery, a dangerous romance, and tragedy all thrown in
Leaving issues of biblical interpretation on one side, the personalities of the principal characters are well-described and engaging. Phoebe herself turns out to be a far more complex character – with slavery, a dangerous romance, and tragedy all thrown in - than the one verse in Paul’s letter has the scope to describe. Paula does this very well and the various tensions that ensue give the book its very readable momentum.
So…if you want to let yourself be absorbed in the simplicity of life in first-century Rome just before Nero’s reign, this is an excellent starting point.
And, if you’re after a book to fire your imagination, dulled after years of over-familiarity with the New Testament, Paula Gooder’s Phoebe will do just that.
Did Paul arrive in Rome? What happened to the trip to Spain? You may find the answers lying within Phoebe – A Story.
PS
Part 2 of the book contains 80 pages of helpful notes on each chapter giving more historical and biblical background