Neither Slave nor Free | Table of Contents

Everything a new reader needs to get started

Neither Slave nor Free is a serial novel issued in weekly chapters. It tells a literary-fictional, historically-plausible backstory to the New Testament letter, Philemon. New chapter every Sunday. Here’s the one-sentence story description and a few blurbs from early readers:

Risking crucifixion, Onesimus, an enslaved shepherd, flees his bitter half-brother and master, Philemon, only to find that freedom requires more than mere escape.

“. . . a masterful grasp of the cultural, political and spiritual context of the time . . . The heart of the novel beats for hope, and asks one essential question: what does it mean to truly be free?” —Claire Gibson, author of Beyond the Point: A Novel and Burst into Song (forthcoming)

“. . . one of the best historical novels I’ve ever read on a New Testament figure . . . Mead’s novel utilizes cutting edge scholarship as he weaves a beautiful and inspiring story of hope and faith.” —Demetrius K. Williams, Professor of Comparative Literature and Religious Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukie; Editor of Onesimus Our Brother: Reading Religion, Race and Slavery in Philemon

“Through characters that are vividly complex, defying any easy, moralizing categorization, Mead delivers a thrilling piece of historical fiction that sheds needed light on a tiny letter whose controversial impact has been, and remains, gargantuan.” —Tommy Givens, Associate Professor of New Testament Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary

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Table of Contents

Part I

1. Down the Mountain. Onesimus expects freedom.

2. Funeral Procession. Onesimus joins Pater’s funeral procession.

3. The Will. Onesimus attends Pater’s funeral feast.

4. Morning Shave. Apphia and Philemon discuss Onesimus.

5. New Concubine. Felicitas goes shopping.

6. Crossroads Temple. Onesimus worships Artemis before the feast.

7. Ninth-Day Feast. Philemon makes his faith public.

8. Mysterious Meeting. Onesimus gathers with the other slaves at the river.

9. Forced Baptism. Onesimus tries to avoid it.

10. Journey to Hierapolis. Philemon and Onesimus travel to market.

11. Journey Home. Strangers on the road.

12. Fugitivus. Onesimus encounters a crucifix.

Rather read Part I in a $5 e-book? Click below.

Part II

1. Saturnalia Begins. Onesimus is puzzled by a play.

2. Proposal. Felicitas has a hard conversation with Neos.

3. Saturnalia Feast. Onesimus gets Neos drunk.

4. Wolves. An attack on the sheepfold.

5. Inquest. Ferrus questions the shepherds. (October 11th, 2026)

6. Consequences. A whipping. (October 18th, 2026)

7. Escape. Into the night. (October 25th, 2026)

Part III

Coming soon.

Part IV

Coming later.

Part V

Coming much later.

Part VI

Okay, I feel like you’re rushing me.

Bonus Material: On Writing the Novel

1. Announcing my novel, Neither Slave nor Free, issued serially on Substack

2. Backstory to Philemon: Was Onesimus a Fugitive Slave?

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