The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín

It is surprising that the short novella, The Testament of Mary, by Colm Tóibín hasn’t courted more controversy. The subject of the work is certainly explosive: Mary, mother to Jesus, narrates the transformation of her son from child of Nazareth to religious revolutionary to Son of God.

Jesus is an enigmatic figure and emotionally distant from his mother, whilst his followers are ‘misfits’, the type of “men who could not look a woman in the eye”. After Jesus’ death two ‘guardians’ visit Mary regularly, getting her to recount her story in order to record it. Presumably one of these is John (who will write Jesus’ story and in the process secure his own place in history); he is seen as calculating and methodical. The story that Mary tells is not the one Jesus’ followers want to hear; they do not recognise her Jesus. Mary will eventually have to accept their version as gospel truth.

This a slim novella, only 104 pages long, and the prose is sparse yet strangely lyrical. Not a single word is wasted. Mary’s raw grief and anger fly off the page, and there is a general sense of sorrow throughout; the sadness is of a mother’s loss of a son not of a saviour. There is a haunting quality to the work and also an evocative sense of fear. The recalling of the crucifixion is masterfully done, as it explores the complicated mix of Mary’s feelings in a deceptively simple way.

The novella raises many questions. Tóibín’s work suggests ways in which myths are created and enforced. In his exploration of Jesus’ raising of Lazarus (who comes back with screams of agony and remains in pain), Tóibín questions the desirability of immortality and whether the miracle was a good thing or not. One of the reasons why this novella is a strong contender for the Man Booker Prize is because it forces the reader to think about accepted stories in a completely different light. This moving novella will certainly stay in your mind for days, gnawing away at previously held beliefs and convictions as only good literature can.