A GIRL NAMED MARY

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Book Review from Kirkus Review

A fictional imagining of the childhood of Jesus’ mother, Mary.

Due to scant historical evidence, very little is known about Mary’s early life before her marriage to Joseph and the birth of Jesus. Nickum (The Path, 2014, etc.) attempts to creatively fill in these blanks, envisioning what Mary’s early upbringing might have been like. Here, Mary is raised as an only child because her older sister, Salome, was kidnapped by Samaritan rebels, never to be seen again. Later, Mary is also abducted by a mysterious woman and held in captivity for weeks before her eventual rescue. At an early age, she demonstrates a natural curiosity and defiance, refusing to leave home to become a Temple Virgin. She candidly challenges traditions and customs that often seem designed to restrict women’s freedom. Mary’s parents decide she’s ready for marriage at the age of 12, and despite her attraction for a boy relatively close to her age, they choose Joseph, a much older man. Mary is horrified and vehemently expresses her consternation, almost ruining the arrangement, which turns out to be financially beneficial to her family. Mary becomes pregnant only two months after her wedding—so soon that Joseph suspects that he might not be the father. When a Roman visits Mary’s house on business and issues a prediction, it later looks like prophecy: “You will have a son who will change the world.” The book’s story begins prior to Mary’s birth and astutely depicts the political context into which she was born. Galilee was under the brutal rule of Herod, who was only notionally a Jew and expressed his pro-Roman leanings in his fawning adoration of Caesar. Mary’s father, Joachim, was part of a perilous rebellion meant to replace Herod with a less tyrannical, more genuinely Jewish leader. Much of the value of the author’s dramatization is precisely in vividly bringing to life this political and cultural context. Nickum’s interpretation certainly departs from the biblical account—specifically, the story as it’s told in the Gospel of Luke—and Mary conceives Jesus naturally, not immaculately. This particular revision has significant theological implications and seems like an omission that’s never directly addressed. However, the story is still engaging as historical hypothesis and successfully adds layers of depth and

complexity to a figure whose formative years remain obscure.

A provocative, intelligently constructed historical exercise.

A Girl Named Mary

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A Girl Named Mary

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A Girl Named Mary…A Review

A Review on Amazon…

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsWarmly written and full of interest

By Octavia Randolph on June 28, 2016

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase 

Mary’s tale will attract and hold the attention of young readers – and even this adult (and demanding) one. The story begins on the eve of Jesus’ birth, then backtracks to that of Herod’s excesses, and the struggles of Mary’s parents, Anne and Joachim. We are there for Mary’s birth, girlhood, and adolescence, and witness her development into a virtuous yet occasionally rebellious and questioning adolescent, which gives her character depth and believability. She initially rails against her arranged marriage to the much-older Joseph, but at length accepts it with good grace. No angel of Annunciation serves as the harbinger of the special nature of the child Mary is to bear, and in fact her wedding day and the period that follows is very much presented as a typical Jewish marriage of the time. (It is a visiting blue-eyed Roman legionnaire who presents the only inkling to young Mary that she may be destined for greatness, an interesting and even arresting touch in the narrative.) Period details and Hebrew terms and customs are deftly integrated into the narrative, and Mary herself is presented as an intelligent, spirited, kind, and most of all, thoughtful actor in the immense drama she is central to. It takes ability and imagination to breathe life into a story as well-known as this one, and the author rewards every moment spent by the reader, providing a fresh, vital, and oftentimes surprising retelling of one of history’s most revered personalities.

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