![]() ![]() There is no Pieta in these pages, except as a mournful dream. And it’s not so much a testament of faith as a confession of guilt. “The Testament of Mary” was originally presented as a monologue, first performed last year in Dublin, and the story still shows the imprint of that form: It’s dramatic and poetic rather than analytical and expansive. Anyone familiar with the Gospels will find this novella a foreign, unsettling place. Now that Toibin has moved on to a Master even more revered, he’s tearing out rooms and replacing the furniture. But that was a literary transformation of studied subtlety. The Irish writer’s most celebrated novel, “The Master,” recreated Henry James in a wry imitation of James’s own style. The only Assumption here is that Mary is a troubled woman, haunted by Golgotha, hunted by assassins, waiting for death.Ĭolm Toibin has stepped into the lives of historical figures before with spectacular success. Forget the Annunciation or the Virgin Birth. ![]()
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