Mary | Book review by Boze Herrington, The US Review of Books

On the evening of Jesus’ death, Mary and the small number of women in her inner circle—Salome, Cleopas, Miriam, and Mary Magdalene—hasten to prepare Jesus’ body for burial before the Sabbath. They’re assisted by Roman centurions who reveal themselves to be the angels Michael, Uriel, Raphael, Jeremial, and Gabriel in disguise. The angels lead them to a home where the women are to rest in preparation for the resurrection, which Mary has foreseen.

The angels and women are joined by Nicodemus, John, Joseph of Arimathea, Peter, and—to the surprise of all parties—Claudia, the wife of Pilate, who has traveled to see them in secret. The members of this unlikely assembly take turns recounting their memories of Jesus, whilst Mary and the angels help them to understand the significance of his life and ministry. They discuss his trip to the temple at the age of twelve and his voyage to the mines of Britannia, during which he peacefully resolved a conflict between quarreling sailors and healed a man’s injury.

Much of the weekend-spanning discussion centers on the role of Mary, who is revealed to have a central purpose in the plans of God. Much like Jesus, Mary embodies the heart and personality of God to everyone who knows her. She tells of her service in the temple when she was a young woman and how her miraculous pregnancy aroused the suspicions of the high priest, Annas, who forced her to undergo the Test of Honesty by drinking the waters of bitterness and then sent temple spies to follow her family in Galilee. As the moment of Jesus’ resurrection approaches, Mary confronts the devil in a final encounter, which serves to affirm the inseparable bond between her and her son.

Drawing heavily from the apocryphal “infancy narratives,” and especially the Proto-Gospel of James, Graham presents a refreshingly creative take on the hours between Good Friday and the first Easter. Unusually for a book of this nature, the story works on several levels. Christian believers may find themselves pondering who Jesus was, the nature and purpose of his mission, the reasons for his death, and the importance of his mother, Mary, who in this telling is endowed with supernatural powers of insight and foresight. Graham also raises the interesting question of whether God feels the same unconditional love for the fallen angels that he feels toward people.

Looking past its theological musings, however, the book becomes a lovely meditation on the nature of motherhood and sonship, one that transcends the strictures of religious dogma. The book is at its most compelling when it portrays Mary’s grief over the death of Jesus, who mourns him not as God in the flesh but as her own son. Her grief speaks to something universal, and in these moments, the book achieves a resonance that demonstrates why the Gospel narratives are so beloved.

Graham’s depiction of the central figures in the passion drama, and their theological and philosophical exchanges, provide much fodder for discussion. Intriguingly, Jesus is presented as a man who had to learn virtue like anyone else. For example, in his youth he lacks patience and is prone to flashes of anger, which he gradually masters as he matures. John is portrayed as fully expecting Jesus’ resurrection, while in the canonical Gospels, he and the other disciples seem to have been perplexed and devastated by his death. These minor deviations from the traditional narrative are welcome, however, as they lend the characters humanity and the story an element of surprise. Overall, this is a joyously idiosyncratic perspective on the love of Mary and Jesus for one another, one that doubles as a poignant reflection on family, parenting, and loss.