The Tentmaker

by Elizabeth Waller

477 pages, Paperback

Published June 16, 2026

Reviews

[Vicky Haim]

Linguistics and Bible references to the early apostles of Christianity were briefly brought up in my religious Protestant upbringing but not to the level presented here. Elizabeth Walker really contrasts the difference in the stories in the Bible depending on the author of Bible book. At times it was a little tedious with the minutiae of how words were used, but I did enjoy the struggles of the main character Catherine who faced academic challenges in a male dominated department of antiquities with her dissertation advisor Bruce Green and her New Testament expert Raymond, a Catholic priest who was known in his community as a scholarly powerhouse. His devotion to the Church compromised his partnership with Catherine as her mentor on her project. Catherine’s continuing effort to translate a scroll she dug up while on a summer dig attending as her professor’s assistant was constantly upended by challenges beyond her control. She was mugged near the NYU campus by a student who acted upon her rejection of his paper in her class she taught. Raymond was sneakily trying to get access to the scroll she was translating from Ancient Greek who author was an early Church teacher, Priscilla written on papyrus by her husband Aquila acting as her scribe. The Roman arch diocese hired a fixer to try to steal it as the Church in Rome had concerned that the revelation of women teacher’s of the Way (followers of Jesus) would upend doctrine. These interactions carried the storyline action beyond the backdrop of the details in the translation and their meaning to hold the interest in the outcome. Involvement of fellow undergraduate friendship and new love interest with Moishe spices up the story. Location around NYU and Hoboken NJ were also led haunts for me. A good story but maybe a little too long at nearly 500 pages.