The childhood of jesus is a 2013 novel by south african born nobel laureate j m coetzee the book was published on 7 march 2013 by jonathan cape the us edition was published on 3 september 2013 by viking . An astonishing new masterpiece from the nobel and twice booker prize winning author of disgrace and summertime the childhood of jesus is a profound beautiful and continually surprising novel from a very great writer beliebte taschenbuch empfehlungen des monats. The childhood of jesus is a very different novel that requires a serious involvement by the reader the story is superficially a simple one david a 5 year child and simon his middle aged guardian arrive in the city of novella and receive food and accommodation as new settlers simon finds work on the docks simon identifies ines a woman living in the luxury resort la residencia as davids mother and passes responsibility for david to her davids schoolteacher senior leon determines . Despite its authors fellow possession of a nobel prize jm coetzees new novel does not in the childhood of jesus the south african eschews the baroque only to tend to the banal david and