The Testament of Mary

By: Colm Toibin

Narrated by: Meryl Streep

2014 Audie Award Finalist for Audiobook of the Year, Literary Fiction, and Solo Narration—Female!

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, who are her keepers. 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 her judgment of others is equally harsh. This woman whom 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.

Too much liberty taken on the story

Merrill Streep did a fantastic job and was extremely compelling throughout. However too much liberty was taken with the story and was uncomfortable for a Christian to read.

Interesting and thought provoking

Such an interesting take on a well known story. whether or not you're Christian, it's worth the listen.

Mary depicted as a human woman of her time

I dont know what the basis of this story was - the apocryphal testament of Mary, or what? It does succeed in humanizing her, eg, what would someone in her position have thought about the unexplainable happenings concerning her son’s crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. These were obviously things she neither expected nor understood in the moment.
Her reaction to her caretakers (John?) was realistic. She viewed them as interlopers and basically just men...who messed things up in her house. And though they tried to explain to her what had happened to her son and who her son actually was, in a theological sense, she could not grasp what they were saying. She loves him the way a mother loves a son, especially one who is lost to her, but loves and misses her dead husband and his place in her life even more.

Moving story of Mary, Mother of Jesus

This story was a very moving account of what Mary went through, thought, and felt during the adult life of her son and after his death. The story brought her to life in a very real and intelligent fashion. It was exactly what I would imagine a mother would feel watching her son go through the last days of his life. It was not sensationalized, just very, very real. Excellent book. Meryl Streep's performance was excellent. Her performance was very understated but powerful.

Fragmented and unremarkable

despite a well-read performance by Meryl Streep, the book itself was uninteresting. It didn't catch my attention or keep my attention. Mary's thoughts were rarely thoughtful, just didn't enjoy it.