Probably worth noting first and foremost I’m not Christian. But I’ve been finding myself more and more interested in the concept of a Judas figure as martyr – a ‘villain’ who actually loves the hero, but who had to play the villain in order for the required narrative to play out. I see this in musical theatre quite a lot (obvious choice is Jesus Christ Superstar, but also Wicked and even somewhat explored in Hamilton), but not so much books, so I’d like to change that.
I read Jeff Loveness’ Judas graphic novel which was pretty interesting, and also The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd which had Judas as a tertiary character and somewhat explored his motivations. I am also familiar with the Last Days of Judas Iscariot play. I’m primarily looking for stuff that has Judas himself as a human character (non-divine interpretations of Jesus preferred), but will also accept books with a similar motif as long as that character study is the main driver of the novel. I’m particularly interested in the idea of betrayal as an act of devotion in itself
by Otherwise-Ranger5200