Frontier Man by Bonnie J Flessen (Resource Publications, 2025) tells the story of three travellers – Batos, Domitia and Virgos – who have heard about Jesus and are seeking the apostle Paul so they can hear more. Each chapter takes the perspective of a different character so that the reader can understand how the same event is interpreted by the parties. This took a little getting used to, especially when one character changed their name, but ultimately makes for a more interesting tale.
For me, the highlight of this book was the dreams of Batos. Batos is connected to the theatre troupe whose performance about Jesus so intrigues Domitia and Virgos that they choose to follow. His dreams are painted as visions that for this reader, viscerally evoke echoes of the Hebrew Bible prophets, connecting land, people, story and myth, in the semi-concious rememberance of his previous experiences. Flessen is able to craft these visions so that the picture seems to rise unbidden off the page and have stayed with me long since I finished the book.
Virgos is described as a eunuch throughout the book, although the cover notes explain that he is intersex. His is a significantly different masculintity than Batos, which often allows him to slip through the crowd and come to Domitia’s aid. I wondered about his anger towards his intersex status, directed at his inadeqaute masculinity, but have no measure by which to assess the accuracy of these ideas. I imagine that some of the eunuchs – either made or born – would have been angry at their state, but in the novel this anger seemed at odds with his broader character. Of course, the best literary characters are the ones with layers and complexity, but I wasn’t sure about this part of his story.
Domitia, a wealthy widow who is being sized up in terms of the next husband, is in some ways the catalyst for the journey that the three undertake. She wants to escape the fate that lays ahead of her and she is also the one seemingly captivated by the theatre troupe’s performance. In many ways her narrative arc is the one that is most interesting on the surface, however I found myself less drawn to her than the other two characters. This could be internalised misogyny, or it could be that the author is more interested in mapping masculinities at this time, or it could be a bit of both.
One thing that often annoys me in books that are basically Bible fan-fic is the twisting of biblical characters to meet the sensibilities of modern readers. This book does not do that. While the stories of Jesus life are referenced and the apostle Paul is being pursued, these characters are tangential to story being told. It is clear that Flessen is writing from a faith perspective, but this does not feel like she is forcing or even asking anyone else to convert or conform to a particular confessional stance. This is so refreshing and allows the reader to similarly imagine the everyday people who would have heard of the story of Jesus or the teachings of Paul and what their reaction might have been.
While I am not a new testament scholar, this book made me want to read more of what Flessen has written, noting that this is her first work of fiction. And I am keen to read what else she produces in this form.
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