Lisa Cherrett, Production Editor at Bible Society, speaks to Jo Sheringham author of Jonah and the Bony-finned Asteroid Fish.
In a way, it seemed quite obvious. Once I thought about changing the ship in the story to a space ship, everything flowed from there. I like a lot of futuristic, sci-fi things – Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Discworld, and so on. So all of that was in the background of my thinking. Then there’s the sci-fi film The Fifth Element, with Ian Holm as a priest who’s always in a bit of a panic, getting his robes tangled up. I imagined Jonah as being a bit like him.
Yes, Jonah in this book is perhaps not what people would expect. He’s got a definite air of cynicism about him, hasn’t he? How did you build up that character in your mind?
For me, that’s exactly how I see him, so I didn’t feel I was creating a character out of nothing. In my story, he keeps on saying he’s ‘semiretired’, not really a prophet any more. It’s an excuse not to get involved, because he’s done it all before, he knows exactly what getting involved will mean for him, and he’s really not up for it.
Your book is very humorous. Do you think Christian literature can be perceived as a bit too stuffy, as a general rule?
Well, I wanted the book to be enjoyable first and foremost. I was writing a novel, not an academic theological paper, so it needed to be entertaining, while still putting over a serious message.
Apart from Jonah, do you have a favourite character in the book?
I like all the minor characters, but perhaps the captain of the ship is one of my favourites. There are different layers to her. She thinks she’s seen it all, but now she’s in a predicament that she’s never come across before, with this strange little prophet man running around who turns out to be the cause of the problem. She doesn’t want to be fazed by the situation, but she really is, and it’s a new experience for her.
Lots of people think of Jonah as a great children’s story for Sunday school, but your retelling is for adults, isn’t it?
That’s right (although there’s nothing in it that’s ‘unsuitable’ for children). I read Jonah as a child, of course, but it’s a story I continue to read, and I think the themes are very relevant to adults. In my mind, Jonah is an older man who’s been a prophet for a long time and it’s all become a bit routine for him. If we’ve been Christians for a while, we can start to just wander along and perhaps get a bit disillusioned, but God doesn’t let go of us and still has something to say to and through us. At the heart of the story of Jonah is that continuing connection between God and a man who can still be called to do a job for Him.
I wasn’t deliberately intending that, but I think it’s just part of who I am as a Christian. My faith is not something I want to keep in a box, and I hope it’s expressed in everything I do. Also, I’m interested in the small, invisible and ordinary events in everyone’s lives, which often prove to have far greater and more meaningful consequences than we at first imagine. The Bible is for everyone, not just for Christians. So I’d like to think that this book would appeal to people who’ve never read the book of Jonah and would draw them into it – and, from there, ideally to other Bible stories. When I’m writing, I want to bring out something that makes me feel excited and enthusiastic about the Bible, and perhaps help other people to feel the same way.
So what about Christians who do know the story of Jonah very well? What do you hope this book will do for them?
I hope it will encourage people to look again at a story they thought they knew – perhaps one that they’ve confined to childhood – and see it in a fresh way. Lots of Christians don’t read the Old Testament as much as they read the New Testament, and don’t find it so easy to relate to Old Testament characters. But I think these stories still have a lot to say to us, because there’s that thread all the way through about the merciful heart of God.
*Jo Sheringham has been writing since her teens, but this is her first print published book. With four grown-up daughters, she lives in Wiltshire with her husband and is part of a vibrant, active church family.