She does not agree that her son is the Son of God nor that his death was “worth it” nor that the “group of misfits he gathered around him, men who could not look a woman in the eye,” were holy disciples. She has no interest in collaborating with the authors of the Gospel, who are her keepers. In the ancient town of Ephesus, Mary lives alone, years after her son’s crucifixion. But Mary refuses, knowing that the scribe has "written of things that neither he saw nor I saw.“Tóibín is at his lyrical best in this beautiful and daring work” ( The New York Times Book Review) that portrays Mary as a solitary older woman still seeking to understand the events that become the narrative of the New Testament and the foundation of Christianity-shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. Cunning and cruel, they intimidate her, wanting her to confirm the story of Jesus' divinity. Paul, though, like so much else in this novella, their identities are left ambiguous - visit Mary. Now, years after the Crucifixion, two of Jesus' followers - seemingly St. She realizes with mounting horror that her son is doomed, and she does not share his conviction that he will rise again. As Jesus' fame grows and he gathers more and more followers, he becomes a stranger to her. She watches Jesus address them, "his voice all false, and his tone all stilted," and feels uneasy. Elderly and isolated in Ephesus, menaced by the persecutors of her dead son as well as by his followers, Mary narrates her memories of the Crucifixion in cold, vivid detail.Īt first, she is bored by her son's followers, "unshaven brutes and twitchers," and then she is unnerved.
In the grim and lovely Testament of Mary, Colm Toibin gives voice to the mother of Jesus. We know little about her except for her virginity and her grief.
In the Gospels, the Virgin Mary is the alabaster embodiment of grace and suffering, the mater dolorosa - but also largely voiceless. Your purchase helps support NPR programming.
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