ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 1996 TAG: 9605200002
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: CLARKE BUSTARD ASSOCIATED PRESS
Alexandra Ripley, the Charlottesville writer who in ``Scarlett'' took the dare of creating a sequel to Margaret Mitchell's ``Gone With the Wind,'' follows a radically different path in her next historical novel, based on the life and legend of Joseph of Arimathea.
``He is referred to in the gospels of the New Testament as the wealthy, powerful man who gave his own tomb for the burial place of Jesus of Nazareth,'' Ripley writes in a note for the novel, ``A Love Divine,'' to be published this fall by Warner Books. ``There is no description of him and no mention of his life or his family.
``However, there is a legend of Joseph of Arimathea that is many centuries old, widely believed and reverently cherished. It tells us that Joseph was a man of the sea, a trader in the tin mined in the peninsula of England now known as Cornwall. Also that he and his companions brought the message of Christianity to England.''
The 62-year-old native of Charleston, S.C., made her name writing about the American South. She is no theologian. She claims no expertise in ancient history beyond the background reading any historical novelist would undertake. She and her daughter traveled from Jerusalem through Rome to England, following Joseph's trading and missionary route two millenniums after the fact.
The rest is not history, but fiction, she emphasized during a recent visit to Richmond. In the next breath, however, she acknowledged that any fictional enlargement of a biblical figure risks controversy.
``It's precisely because Joseph of Arimathea is a bit player in the Gospels that I felt able to write a novel about him,'' Ripley said. ``We know nothing about him except that he was a rich, powerful Jew who gave his tomb for Jesus' burial.
``Who was he? How old? How did he become rich? Why did he do this for Jesus? Here's this man important enough to be mentioned in the crucifixion and resurrection story, but only mentioned.
``For a novelist, all these questions I could make up answers to ... it's riches beyond counting.''
The riches are compounded at the western terminus of the story: the southwestern tip of England where, legend has it, Joseph and his companions built the first church in Britain, ``a wattle-and-daub hut (that) became Glastonbury Abbey, a magnificent complex of soaring stone buildings that included a cathedral acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful structures in the medieval world.''
And a tree that blooms at Christmas and Easter - the Glastonbury thorn, Joseph's wooden staff miraculously come to life.
``It's a famous story in England,'' Ripley said. ``I never heard it until I was 30 or 40. In the 20 years since, I've known I had to write about it.
``After `Scarlett,' I could finally persuade a publisher.''
Joseph's story was ``very exotic'' for Ripley not only because of its biblical resonance and ancient time frame. ``This is my first male protagonist,'' she said, ``the first time I've really had to put myself deep into the consciousness and behavior of a man.''
She keeps a respectful distance from the Passion narrative. ``The only biblical character I did much with was Mary Magdalene,'' and then in the role of ``apostle to the apostles'' rather than the worldly woman portrayed ``not in the New Testament but by later churchmen such as Pope Gregory.''
``We're told she accompanied Jesus on his ministry and supplied the disciples with funds and other support. So I made her an heiress.''
Conveniently for storytelling purposes, ``a woman with property would have been much in demand among men at the time, because by marrying her they would obtain her property,'' Ripley said.
Ripley reckons Joseph's birth date at about 12 B.C. ``and since he was in his 70s when he came to England, that takes us past 58 A.D.''
``The dialogue I wrote is not overly colloquial, but not `ancient' either. I made people talk as people of their education and background would speak now. I try to make life as it was seem logical to the reader.''
Easier said than done, she added. ``The ancient world was nothing like our world. The violence of the period is incredible,'' even by the blood-soaked standards of the 20th century.
AP-DS-03-28-96 1201E
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP In her new book, novelist Alexandra Ripley tellsby CNBthe story of how Joseph of Arimathea brought Christianity to
England.