Yeshua Bar Abba

Vincenzo, a successful writer tormented by a profound creative drought and "blank page panic," decides to follow his wife's advice and retreat to a secluded cabin in the mountain woods to recharge his batteries. During a stormy night, he rescues a mysterious man who collapses exhausted at his doorstep; the stranger displays the rugged features of someone who has lived in the elements and an aura of dignity that commands respect. After initial reticence, the guest reveals his incredible identity: he is Yeshua Bar Abba, better known as the biblical Barabbas.

The man claims to be immortal because, two thousand years earlier on Golgotha, Jesus took his place on the cross, paying his debt to the "reaper" in his stead. Despite the millennia that have passed, Yeshua appears to be around thirty-five years old, has never been ill or injured, and explains that a superhuman strength prevents him even from committing suicide, as he discovered during the fall of Masada, where he was unable to turn the sword against himself after witnessing the sacrifice of his companions. Thus begins an epic narrative that spans the pivotal points of history: from his youth as a rebellious Zealot and his love for Miriam, to his liberation from the Sanhedrin before Pontius Pilate.

Barabbas's journey spans the centuries: his philosophical studies in Alexandria, his marriage in Rome to the Christian Cornelia—interrupted by the need to flee so as not to reveal the secret of his ability to age—the Crusades, and his defense of the persecuted during the French Revolution. An eyewitness to the construction of the Titanic and a fighter in the French Resistance in the "Delta" group, Yeshua has seen humanity cyclically repeat the same mistakes of violence and greed. Finally, the immortal vanishes at dawn just as he had appeared, leaving Vincenzo with the records of this thousand-year life. Thanks to this extraordinary testimony, the writer overcomes his crisis and writes the definitive novel about the figure of the man whom death seems to have forgotten.