Little Lazarus

Little Lazarus is the story of two clairvoyant tortoises who bear witness to centuries of human suffering.

Teenagers Francois and Eleanor are lonely and wild in the small Southern town of Harmony that promises them nothing but more of the same: nothing. They attempt to escape their mundane existence and dysfunctional families but succeed only in finding each other. And that seems to be enough. Until one drunken night driving down a country road changes the course of their lives.

As Francois and Eleanor tell their stories in parallel sections, another larger story unfolds, told through the lives of two tortoises, Lazarus and Little Lazarus. Their respective journeys across continents constitute a tour of the human heart itself in all its manifestations. Their caretakers range from a billionaire intent on achieving immortality, to a series of mute men passing down the same seersucker suit through generations, to a dog named Pony at the end of the world.

With the deep longing of Carson McCullers’s The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and the narrative lyricism of Robert Bresson’s Au hasard Balthazar, New York City writer Michael Bible proves why he’s a cult sensation to European readers. Little Lazarus is an unforgettable ballad of devastating love and spectacular sorrow.

Michael Bible is originally from North Carolina. His work has appeared in The Paris Review and Oxford American, among other places. He lives in New York.