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The Testament Of Mary by Colm Tóibín



Published: 2013, Penguin

Genre: Fiction

Themes: New Testament, grief, loss, reflection

My rating (out of 5): ❤❤


I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed with this book, but that could quite possibly be because I am missing something.  I am familiar with the New Testament and my problem is that I don't recognise the characters of Mary, Jesus or the disciples.  They don't behave as I would have expected them to.

This short novella gives Mary's account of Jesus' ministry and death on the cross, and it is told from the vantage point of her old age when she is nearing the end of her life.  The way the story is told in Colm Tóibín, it seems that Mary does not understand what her son and his friends are doing when they make a fuss in the Temple and cause a 'frenzy' among the people.  In the Bible, Mary knows exactly what her son has been sent to do, and even encourages him to begin his work when the time is right.

Colm Tóibín also alters the order of events.  In the Bible, Lazarus is raised from the dead after the wedding at Cana but here the miracle comes first and causes Mary and many others great concern.  Rather than rising up as a whole man once again, Lazarus is depicted as coming back as a rather lost soul, drifting somewhere between life and death, and Mary feels her son has interfered with natural order. 

I don't really understand why Colm Tóibín changed the order as he would certainly be familiar with The New Testament and the structure would have been a deliberate choice.  As this is a work of fiction, the writer may shape the story however he likes, but then why make it about Mary?  Would it not have been easier to create another female character who witnessed the final hours in Jerusalem?

I wonder if the whole book is designed to undermine the beliefs of the Catholic church as Colm Tóibín is an ex-Catholic who once contemplated the priesthood.  Looking at reviews online the book was not well received by Catholic reviewers so he hit the target if that was his intention.  One angry review is titled: An Autopsy on the Testament of Mary.  

In a climate of free speech, authors can project whatever they like onto Biblical characters in the same way that Dan Brown gave Jesus a family with descendants stretching into the present day in the Da Vinci Code.  The Testament of Mary is not as sensational as that, but it still has Mary worshiping at the temple of a Roman goddess, which would imply that even she couldn't believe the message taught by her own son.  I fear this book was driven by a grudge that may have been building over many years.

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