The Testament of Mary

By: Colm Toibin

Narrated by: Meryl Streep

Length: 3 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Solo Narration - Female, 2014

Audie Award Finalist, Literary Fiction, 2014

Meryl Streep’s performance of Colm Tóibín's acclaimed portrait of Mary is hailed by the New York Times Book Review as “an ideal audiobook,” presenting the three-time Academy Award-winner in “yet another great role.” Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Colm Tóibín's The Testament of Mary presents 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. 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. They are her keepers, providing her with food and shelter and visiting 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. 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, in a portrait so vivid and convincing that our image of Mary will be forever transformed.

Now Meryl Streep brings Tóibín's tour de force of imagination and language to unforgettable life with “simplicity, honesty, [and] a clarity that draws us into the emotional landscape of the book through the beauty of the writing,” writes Charles Isherwood in the New York Times Book Review. “Streep has an impressive ability to crest the structurally intricate sentences Tóibín has fashioned, which sometimes have the flowing, rhythmic cadences of certain passages in the Bible itself,” Isherwood writes of her performance. “Streep’s voice is familiar to generations of moviegoers, but its beauty as an instrument can be appreciated in this context as it often cannot be in films. … Tóibín's exquisite book [is] rendered by Streep with all its detached, quiet, consoling humanity intact.”

©2012 Colm Toibin (P)2013 Simon and Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

*"....beautiful and daring....Tóibín is at his lyrical best in The Testament of Mary....Originally performed as a one-woman show in Dublin, 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)

" The Testament of Mary is sort of an ideal audiobook…. Streep's voice is familiar to generations of moviegoers, but its beauty as an instrument can be appreciated in this context as it often cannot be in films…. The result: simplicity, honesty, a clarity that draws us into the emotional landscape of the book through the beauty of the writing…. [O]ften there is a simmering intensity, as of overwhelming feeling held just barely in check. And there is, again, the sheer beauty of the voice, which has a cello-like resonance, slightly dark-timbered…. Streep rises to the heights of the most harrowing passages in the book with a stealth that takes you by surprise, so fluidly does she connect the subtle changes in feeling that overtake Mary as she tells of her confusion at what is happening, her fear when she hears that her son's death has been ordained, her horror at bearing witness to it." (Charles Isherwood, The New York Times Book Review)

Streep is magical

If you enjoy audio books I cannot recommend this listen highly enough. Fiction that embraces awe and shines a light in a direction that is undiscovered country.
But best of all is the narration by Meryl Streep. She is phenomenal and conveys emotions with an inclination for one word over another subtly signaled by a barely noticeable lilt or shift in the timbre of her magical voice.

Wow!

As someone who is not overly religious this was an amazingly well done and very powerful listen. For any mother to go through that experience is heart wrenching. The writing is superb and deeply moving. I would recommend it to anyone.

Excellent book.

Excellent book, very well read by Meryl Streep. Loved it! The crucifixion of Jesus through the eyes of His Mother. Great book.

A Captivating Listen

The focus here is on Mary experiencing what any of us would imagine feeling as a mother who watches from the sidelines as her son is thrust into the political spotlight, tortured and killed. We undoubtedly experience Mary's love for Jesus, but as to whether or not she likes, admires or believes her son special we're left in the dark. I would have appreciated the offering of some insights (fictional though they may be) into the person Jesus was (fictional though he - or the stories about him may be) which would have given the book a bit more substance. Despite this "flaw" it is worth the listen.

Too Short

Excellent writing. Excellent performance. I was crushed when I realized it was already over. Jesus.

Outstanding.

I implore you to read THIS instead of the hugely overpraised “The Book of Longings”
This book is human, honest, and has a tremendously empathetic main character. Don’t go into this with a closed mind.
Meryl Streep’s narration is a work of art.

Simply stunning

What did you like best about this story?

This powerful short novel, a memoir in the voice of the mother of Jesus, uses a different chronology of events than the Gospels, which works novelistically to show us how it is that Mary was present and experienced each of the events.

Which character – as performed by Meryl Streep – was your favorite?

Meryl Streep's award-winning narration is breathtaking.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

At three and a half hours it could be listened to in one sitting, like a theatrical performance or a long movie. Certainly it should not be spread over many days; its punch should be concentrated.

A wonderfully different point of view

It is always good to hear another point of view especially of a story that is so familiar

Wild read

Beautifully imagined and rendered. I t is great to meet a real Mary. It’s good to hear a real mother speak rather than a virgin without experience.

Ms Streep’s performance is wonderful

Top notch reading and performance from Ms Streep. Mr Tobin is always a joy to read