BEN-HUR: A Tale of the Christ—Modernized Epic Novel Releasing from
Tyndale House Publishers in Advance of Major Motion Picture
from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Paramount Pictures
Author Carol Wallace, Great-Great-Granddaughter of Original Author
Lew Wallace, Breathes New Life into Classic Novel for Today’s Audience,
Releasing on July 19 from Tyndale House Publishers
BEN-HUR Novel PR Contact:
Katie Dodillet, 630-784-5275
katiedodillet@tyndale.com
CAROL STREAM, Ill. – July 14, 2016 – As one of the bestselling stories of all time, Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ has captivated and enthralled millions around the world—both in print and on the big screen. Based on Wallace’s epic novel, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) and Paramount Pictures will release BEN-HUR in theaters nationwide August 19. In advance of the film’s release, Tyndale House Publishers will publish both an updated trade novel by Wallace’s great-great-granddaughter, Carol Wallace, as well as a collector’s edition of this epic story on July 19.
In the updated trade novel, Carol Wallace has taken the old-fashioned prose of this classic novel and breathed new life into it for today’s audience. She has modernized the text, bringing this story of intrigue, romance, and tragedy into a more accessible and readable format—drawing readers back to this time-honored tale.
The story follows Judah Ben-Hur, a nobleman falsely accused of treason by his childhood friend Messala, an officer in the Roman army. Stripped of his title, separated from his family, Judah is forced into slavery. He is sentenced to the galley ships and vows revenge against the Romans and Messala. After years at sea, Judah returns to his homeland to seek revenge, but a chance encounter with Jesus sets him on a different path, where he discovers forgiveness and finds redemption.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Paramount Pictures’ BEN-HUR stars Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Rodrigo Santoro, Nazanin Boniadi, Ayelet Zurer, Sofia Black D’Elia, and Morgan Freeman. Timur Bekmambetov directed the film from a screenplay by Keith Clarke and John Ridley. Sean Daniel, Joni Levin, and Duncan Henderson served as producers, with Mark Burnett, Roma Downey, Keith Clarke, John Ridley, and Jason F. Brown serving as executive producers.
Author Carol Wallace shares, “Adapting the original novel for contemporary audiences was both an honor and a thrill.”
Included in the new novel and collector’s edition are images from the 2016 film and the inspiring story-behind-the-story of Lew Wallace—Indiana lawyer, author, and Civil War general. The collector’s edition also contains more than 100 special features, including bonus content, images and photos from Lew Wallace’s life, valuable backstory and historical information, “the rest of the story,” and images and trivia from the previous film adaptations.
About the Author: After graduating from Princeton University in 1977, Carol Wallace took a job in publishing in New York. A little over two years in the business convinced her that writers had more fun than editors, and she left to join their ranks. One of her first assignments was cowriting a humor book called The Official Preppy Handbook. This was followed by To Marry an English Lord, coauthored with Gail MacColl. First published in 1989, it returned to public notice in 2012, when Julian Fellowes cited it as an inspiration for Downton Abbey. In February 2013, To Marry an English Lord appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. Other publications include more than twenty books and dozens of magazine articles, focusing on humor, social history, parenting, and fiction. Her most recent title is a historical novel, Leaving Van Gogh, published in April 2011.
About Tyndale House Publishers: Tyndale House Publishers, founded in 1962, is the world’s largest privately held Christian publisher of books, Bibles, and digital media. Tyndale has published many New York Times bestsellers. The largest portion of its profit goes to the nonprofit Tyndale House Foundation, which makes grants to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of people around the world. Tyndale was founded to publish Living Letters, which later comprised part of The Living Bible, a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible that became a global publishing phenomenon. Tyndale now publishes the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), the translation of choice for millions of people.
TYNDALE and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
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Ben-Hur by Carol Wallace/ 978-1-4964-1107-5 / Collector’s Edition/ July 2016
Ben-Hur by Carol Wallace/ 978-1-4964-1105-1 / hardcover/ July 2016
Ben-Hur by Carol Wallace/ 978-1-4964-1106-8 / softcover/ July 2016