Originally Published: 2002-06-02

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Ricci's emigration stories are no different: they tell of the quest for paradise, the departure from known difficulties in search of a better world. That's why people leave. "But then," adds Ricci, "the memory of home, of a place where everything made sense, never leaves you. Disappointment upon return is also unavoidable. From this standpoint, also this book, by telling the myth of a return to Paradise through Jesus, follows the same path."
Ricci began writing Testament in 1998, and he did so with the intention of drawing the profile of a historical person turned myth. He visited biblical sites in Israel, drew from period documents, and of course from his own experience of life and spirituality. "I could never have written this book had I not been, at some point in my life, a Catholic. Today I can't call myself a believer, but like many Italian kids I was raised as a Catholic, immediately initiated to the Church, and up to a point I truly believed. I was never indifferent to the figure of Jesus Christ. A charismatic figure, and a myth in the true sense of the word. He was portrayed that way, with all the classic traits: a mysterious conception, a resurrection. That was necessary to make him a myth, not to make him true.
"By 'unravelling,' in a novelist's way, the mystery behind his conception, I did not want to diminish the man and his real role in the history of mankind. So, this time I told the story myself." This is not a justification, just an explanation. "My choice has been heavily criticized, but I don't see why. There is no intention to offend or desecrate," clarifies the author, "and if one has a strong and stable faith, my novel will not shake it. Even if I enjoyed strong sales, I doubt I could 'beat' the Bible."
Ricci calls his book "the description of a path through Jesus' story. The same path of our inner life, of our spiritual side that leads us to investigate and always ask the same questions." He has no intention of abandoning this path, either. "I'm working at a story that will continue this one, but with no reference to religion. It's a sequel because it deals with the same quest, the same voyage, forward. As I said, it's the 'story of stories' that maybe we all tell, always in different ways."

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