As an aspiring novelist, I’m always thinking about how to write stories and characters who reflect my faith, without being so overtly religious that only Catholics would want to read it. This means that these days, I read fiction with eyes toward craft.
Late in 2010, I read two novels about Mary. In the past, I’ve been disappointed by books about Mary because they treated her with such profound reverence that we couldn’t ever really identify with her as a person. I’ve found her flat and uninteresting, which seems a crying shame.
These new novels have quite the opposite problem. The Handmaid and the Carpenter came highly recommended, but like many others, I was disappointed. I was prepared to see a less immaculate Mary than the one I have grown up with, but I was sorry to find Joseph portrayed as so filled with doubt.
I found myself distracted by language. All the characters spoke contemporary English…except the angels, who spoke King James. This has always annoyed me–it seems to me that if an angel is going to speak to you, it will be in your own language, not in some thither and thy Shakespearean language. But maybe that’s just me.
Most of all, it was the end of the book that bothered me: a Joseph on his deathbed, still doubting; a Mary who had born a number of other children to him. Perhaps I’m the uninformed one, but I understood that passage about Jesus’ “brothers” to be a matter of translation, that the actual word in the original language signified “kinsmen” more than “sibling.”
So when I stumbled across Girl Mary in the library, I hesitated. But I really would love to read a book that deals authentically with Mary while still respecting Scripture and tradition, so I checked it out. Girl Mary was really interesting to read, a real page-turner about the interactions between Mary, Joseph, Pontius Pilate (who is a superbly interesting character, interacting with them long before his moment of hand-washing shame).
On the other hand…the story takes on a very different shape than the one we know. The story is told through a lens of sexual identity, both human and divine, and although I liked how the characters were searching for their purpose as “made in the image of God,” I was uncomfortable with the portrayal of God as masculine, incapable of understanding femininity.
The thematic progression was interesting and ended in a pretty satisfying place, but it seemed to limit God to something, I don’t know…less than. Mary calls down lightning on her enemies. And of course, Mary and Joseph have a wedding night, during which Jesus is conceived. It was a very well-written book, but somewhat disturbing on a faith level.
The thing that strikes me most in both of these attempts to novelize Mary is that contemporary writers can’t seem to wrap their brains around virginity. Sex is so integral a part of our modern psyche that the culture at large, and sometimes we ourselves, lose sight of the fact that sexuality is more than having sex. As a Catholic, as a mother, as a writer who wants to use prose to make the world a better place, this bothers me. I want to write the story that will make people smack themselves in the forehead and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Maybe someday I’ll manage it. More likely not. In the meantime, I’ll keep looking for an authentic Mary in fiction.
How about you? Have you ever found one?
Kathleen Basi is a stay-at-home mom, freelance writer, flute and voice teacher, liturgical composer, choir director, natural family planning teacher, scrapbooker, sometime-chef and budding disability rights activist. She puts her juggling skills on display at www.kathleenbasi.com.
I think that it is hard for us to understand Mary because she really is so different than us. how on earth can we understand living without sin and being, for instance, a child. Was she without sin always, in the hopes that she would say yes, or did God do some time traveling thing with her history when she did say yes. I became very interested in Mary and her sinlessness…wrote about in on my blog this christmas and read several other entries. i try not to read secular books on her for just the reasons you stated. Novels can make her come alive, and some things just do not make any sense in the world…thanks for you blog. I enjoyed it very much.
Holly
Holly Murphy recently posted..The Most Hated Woman in the US
You might find some inspiration from Tolkien’s character Galadriel. She’s certainly not supposed to BE Mary but the character was inspired by considering the Blessed Virgin.
Oh, I didn’t know that!
Not too long ago I read a fabulous blog post by Simcha Fischer on her blog on the National Catholic Register website. It helped give me a different perspective on the humanity of Mary with regards to her sinlessness. It was also hilarious. I’m going to try to find it and post a link.
Ok, here is the link. Hope it works and helps maybe a little. I know it’s not a novel, but …
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/simcha-fisher/mary-sees-us/
Wondering what happened to my two previous comments. A little upset and somewhat disturbed that it appears they were taken down. The first one was there when I posted the second one, but now it’s not. Is this site censored? Are we not allowed to mention other sites? I can understand offensive or abusive comments, but something about that just doesn’t seem right to me.
ok, i see now. I apologize.
My wife has been reading Untie the Strong Woman: Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604076356/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details), and she absolutely loves it, and from what she has read to me, it will be the next book I read. I think that it captures some of the things you’ve been looking for.
Our Lady of the Lost and Found was good: http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2008/08/our-lady-of-lost-and-found.html
Also, Anne Rice’s books about Jesus have Mary as a character:
http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2008/08/christ-lord-out-of-egypt.html I gave this three stars back then; I’d probably give it four today, I’ve loosened up a lot.
http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2008/12/christ-lord-road-to-cana.html
Francine Rivers is a good writer who makes characters come alive. She wrote about Mary in Unafraid but I’ve never read it. Rivers is an Evangelical Protestant and I have always been afraid I’d end up reading about Mary’s other kids. Here is a link to a review http://francinerivers.com/books/90/praise
A beautiful endeavor! I don’t have any recommendations for such a book, but I will certainly let you know if I come across one. Meanwhile, I send my prayers that God will help you to find the words to depict the beautiful and amazing essence of his mother! God bless!
Such good ideas from everyone!