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“A slim,
grave, exquisitely emotional book…The
Testament of Mary is a spellbinding, surprisingly reverent book.”
— Entertainment Weekly
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“A
heartfelt, powerful work.”
— Wall Street Journal
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“Tóibín is at his
lyrical best in The Testament of Mary…Originally performed as a
one-woman show in Dublin, it takes its power from the surprises of its
language, its almost shocking characterization, its austere refusal of
consolation.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“Dramatic
and poetic…A powerful, devastating story.”
— Washington Post
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“[An]
exquisite novella…Tóibín gives a familiar story startling intimacy.”
— New Yorker
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“Mary—silent,
obedient, observant—has echoed down two millennia, cementing a potent ideal in
the Western imagination. Now the masterful Irish writer Colm Tóibín puts a
jackhammer to the cozy, safe, Christmas-card version in The Testament of Mary.”
— Cleveland Plain Dealer
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“Lovely,
understated and powerfully sad, The Testament of Mary finally gives the mother
of Jesus a chance to speak. And, given that chance, she throws aside the blue
veil of the Madonna to become wholly, gloriously human.”
— NPR
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“A flawless work,
touching, moving, and terrifying.”
— New Statesman (UK)
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“With this masterly
novella, Tóibín has finally tackled the subject of Christianity—and he has done
so with a vengeance.”
— Sunday Times (UK)
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“Tóibín is a wonderful writer: as ever,
his lyrical and moving prose is the real miracle.”
— Observer (UK)
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“This novel is the
Virgin’s version of the life of Christ. After a lifetime listening to everyone
else’s versions of that life, she is angry and frustrated because they are all
questionable.”
— Irish Independent
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“There is a profound
ache throughout this little character study, a steely determination coupled
with an unbearable loss. Although it has some insightful things to say about
religion and the period—the descriptions of the Crucifixion are visceral—it has
a universal message about the nature of loss.”
— Scotland on Sunday
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“A poignant
reimagining of the last days of Christ.”
— Publishers Weekly
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“A stunning
interpretation that is as beautiful in its presentation as it is provocative in
its intention.”
— Booklist
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“A work suffused with mystery and wonder.”
— Kirkus Reviews
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“An ideal
audiobook…Streep has an impressive ability to crest the structurally intricate
sentences Tóibín has fashioned, which sometimes have the flowing, rhythmic
cadences of certain passages in the Bible itself…Streep’s voice is familiar to
generations of moviegoers, but its beauty as an instrument can be appreciated
in this context as it often cannot be in films…Tóibín’s exquisite book [is]
rendered by Streep with all its detached, quiet, consoling humanity intact.”
— New York Times Book Review (audio review)