Because Testament takes many liberties with the inherited Gospel accounts, literalists have been quick to condemn it as a vile, despicable betrayal of the Christian story, an anti-Catholic diatribe. Neither easily dismissed nor forgotten, this Mary must be reckoned with. This Mary is not the iconic mother of God, but a tightly coiled woman whose haunting monologue lingers in one's imagination. From the opening paragraphs of The Testament of Mary the reader has a sense of foreboding. Through his extraordinary narrative powers, the Irish novelist Colm Tóibín has created a riveting portrayal of an aged Mary, who after some 20 years of silence is determined to tell the truth about the dramatic events of her life. As mother of Jesus, she rarely generates the broader discussion that this offering has provoked. "Mary" is a genre more given to devotionals. This monologue, published as a novella, is one. Editor's note: NCR rarely reviews fiction, though this year there may be three exceptions.
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