While in Gottesgab from 1929 to 1930, Kazantzakis wrote the novel Toda-Raba under the initial title Moscou a crié [Moscow Cried Out]. He also began the novel Kapétan Élias, which he later made use of in Freedom and Death.

It is interesting that all of these works were written in French; this is a sign that Kazantzakis had decided to break out of the narrow confines of the Greek-language public.