The Childhood of Jesus (2012) by JM Coetzee
I read Childhood and enjoyed it. It seems to be an elaborate thought experiment to me, exploring what life would be like in a utopia along the lines of Plato's Republic from which eros (and art, etc.) has been banned, not the second elaborate, feverish utopia of the Republic, but the first one characterized by sophrosyny and vegetarianism. The fact that Coetzee's characters want to escape in the end suggests that such a utopia is not in fact a desirable place to live in.