The Testament of Mary - Hardcover

Toibin, Colm

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1451688385 ISBN 13: 9781451688382

Publisher: Scribner Book Company, 2012

Synopsis

Shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize, Colm Tóibín's provocative, haunting, and indelible portrait of Mary presents her as a solitary older woman still seeking to understand the events that become the narrative of the New Testament and the foundation of Christianity.

In the ancient town of Ephesus, Mary lives alone, years after her son's crucifixion. She has no interest in collaborating with the authors of the Gospel--her keepers, who provide her with food and shelter and visit her regularly. 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. Mary judges herself ruthlessly (she did not stay at the foot of the Cross until her son died--she fled, to save herself), and is equally harsh on her judgement of others. This woman who we know from centuries of paintings and scripture as the docile, loving, silent, long-suffering, obedient, worshipful mother of Christ becomes a tragic heroine with the relentless eloquence of Electra or Medea or Antigone. Tóibín's tour de force of imagination and language is a portrait so vivid and convincing that our image of Mary will be forever transformed.

About this title

Review:

"A heartfelt, powerful work."--Sam Sacks "The Wall Street Journal "

"Dramatic and poetic...A powerful, devastating story."--Ron Charles "The Washington Post "

"A deeply, if at times painfully, human portrait of Mary, tearing asunder the robes of red and blue that envelop her in paintings and sculptures."--Michael O'Loughlin "America magazine "

"[A] monumental achievement...equally powerful and poignant whether it's read by one who espouses or eschews the New Testament...A tender, soul-rending exploration of a mother's mourning; a searing, stunning work."--Leyla Sanai "The Independent (UK) "

"There is a profound ache throughout this little character study, a steely determination coupled with an unbearable loss. Although it has some insightful things to say about religion and the period--the descriptions of the Crucifixion are visceral--it has a universal message about the nature of loss. 'I can tell you now, when you say he redeemed the world, I will say that it was not worth it. It was not worth it.'"--Stuart Kelly "Scotland on Sunday "

"This novel is the Virgin's version of the life of Christ. After a lifetime listening to everyone else's versions of that life, she is angry and frustrated because they are all questionable."--John Spain "Irish Independent "

"A flawless work, touching, moving and terrifying..."--Linda Grant "The New Statesman (UK) "

"Lovely, understated and powerfully sad, The Testament of Mary finally gives the mother of Jesus a chance to speak. And, given that chance, she throws aside the blue veil of the Madonna to become wholly, gloriously human."--Annalisa Quinn "NPR "

"A slim, grave, exquisitely emotional book...The Testament of Mary is a spellbinding, surprisingly reverent book."--Jeff Giles "Entertainment Weekly "

"Tóibín is at his lyrical best in The Testament of Mary, a beautiful and daring work...it takes its power from the surprises of its language, its almost shocking characterization, its austere refusal of consolation."--Mary Gordon "The New York Times Book Review "

About the Author:

Colm Tóibín is the author of nine novels, including The Blackwater Lightship; The Master, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; Brooklyn, winner of the Costa Book Award; The Testament of Mary; and Nora Webster, as well as two story collections, and Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know, a look at three nineteenth-century Irish authors. He is the Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University. Three times shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Tóibín lives in Dublin and New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1451688385
• ISBN 13: 9781451688382
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 96