The Testament of Mary is a new look at an age-old story.
According to legend, Mary the Mother of Jesus lived out the end of her
life in Ephesus, Turkey, an important city in early Christianity. It is in this city that she gives her
testament, hoping to understand the events that eventually became the story
told in the New Testament, events that she admits “unhinged” her. This Mary is not the dutiful saintly woman of
Christian teaching and her recounting of events does not correspond to that in
the Bible. She does not agree that her
son is the Son of God. She is angry
about her son’s death and at both his followers and herself for not protecting
him from his gruesome fate. At the end of her life she is in hiding, living
among strangers, dependent on two men she does not like or trust, possibly John
and Luke. Colm Toibin’s Mary is a tragic human woman, imperfect, doubtful and
frightened. The Testament of Mary is a book for readers open to
examining another point of view.
Check out The Testament of Mary @ the library!
