Richard Zimler's eleven novels have been translated into twenty-three languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in twelve different countries, including the UK, United States, Australia, Brazil, Italy and Portugal. Five of his works have been nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award, the richest prize in the English-speaking world, and he has won prizes for his fiction in the UK, America, France and Portugal. Richard has explored the lives of different branches and generations of a Portuguese-Jewish family in four highly acclaimed historical novels, starting with The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon, now in development as a major film. He grew up in New York and since 1990 has lived in Porto, Portugal. For his contributions to Portuguese culture he was awarded the city's highest distinction, the Medal of Honour.
'Novels based on Bible narratives are thin on the ground in our secular times, and can be hit-or-miss affairs, but Richard Zimler's The Gospel According to Lazarus is both engaging theology and literary thriller. How amazing to be Lazarus and get a second bite at life, I used to think, until I read this reverent and subtle meditation on the ways in which the dead can interact with the living, chronicling a profound friendship between Yeshua (Jesus) and Lazarus, in which each saves the other's life.' - Church Times 'Rich in detail and perception and grounded in the sensual compulsions of life such as hunger, pain, interpersonal relations and psychological eccentricities... Zimler's tone is compassionate. His audience may find, in its evocation of intrigue, passion and trauma, aspects of a biblical thriller.' - Jewish Chronicle 'A very human tale of rivalry, betrayal, power-grabbing and sacrifice . . . Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this brave and engaging novel is that Zimler manages to make the best-known narrative in western culture a page-turner. I simply had to keep going to the end to know what would happen.' - The Observer