Overview

 The Crucifixion is a modern American myth reframing the Old Testament in terms of the flight of African Americans from the Deep South during the Great Migration and the New Testament as the struggle for meaning in the modern, urban America.  It is the story of a young man who is lost and alone, and must return to the city of his birth to find his place in the world.  Ultimately, the man must awaken from the urban nightmare in which the world is “black and white” to realize that he and the city are embedded in a world of living color.

Praise for The Crucifixion

“I was moved emotionally by The Crucifixion. …In today’s rapidly changing world, the ability of individuals, families, and communities to live with hope and purpose is essential, but according to my observations, too rare. The characters demonstrate how ordinary people can live extraordinary lives that exude the power to transform those around them.”

— Wayne Gustafson, author of Community of Promise: The Untold Story of Moses

“Theodore Richards’ Crucifixion is a narrative composed of the overlapping orbits of souls passing through the force fields of faith, belief and judgment. The reader moves through the dreams, experiences and memories of the characters, as trials, trespass and prophecy carve out a shared revelation. Hearts and minds flow at a swift pace, crisscrossing the lines that divide us and the lines that connect us all. The Crucifixion is fresh yet familiar, clear yet complex, modern and mythologic.”

— J. K. McDowell, author of Night, Mystery & Light

“…in the very living, breathing characters and events of this modern urbanized tale of redemption, there is unmistakably the real presence of that Light, enfolded somehow as if into the very center, the pith and marrow, of our seeming deepest grief, fear, guilt, anxiety or pain.”

— Todd Erick Pedersen, author of The Sapphire Song

“In this novella Theodore Richards has presented us with a terse, modern parable of the Prodigal Son: a nameless young man returns to the city of his youth to confront the pain of his past, and why he left. Among the weeds, concrete and bitterness lie the seeds to his redemption—to the reader’s redemption—as his journey speaks to the profound spiritual sacrifices life often forces all of us to make. A stunning, poignant debut—a perfect read for the season of renewal!”

— Joanie DiMartino, author of Strange Girls

Format: Paperback | ISBN 978-0-9835852-6-8 | 5.5 x 8.5 | 188 Pgs | Fiction/Religious/Civil Rights