The Testament of Mary

The Testament of Mary is a short novel by Colm Toibin. It began life as a one-woman show that ran at the Dublin Theater Festival in 2011 and was published in book form in 2012. In 2013, the theatrical version debuted on Broadway. It was nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Play, but forced to close before the end of its scheduled run due to financial difficulties.

The book tells the story of Jesus’s crucifixion and the cementing of his legacy from the point of view of his mother Mary. Following the death of Jesus, two very different men take Mary in and help care for her. They continually question her about her son, but Mary is not very cooperative. She remembers everything about Jesus, but does not want to say anything about him that she doesn’t know to be true with absolute certainty, including whether or not he is divine. Her unwillingness to speak frustrates the two men, though one seems to be more understanding than the other.

Mary is secretly angry at her son for his death. She believes that if he hadn’t gathered misfits and difficult people around him, then he might still be alive. Mary thinks that her son was very different from his disciples.



Farina, a kindly neighbor, visits Mary frequently, eventually striking up a friendship with her. One day, they visit the Temple of Artemis, where Mary finally feels her spirits lift. She gets a small statue of Artemis to take home with her, finally telling her story to the statue.

Mary remembers when her son was younger. She didn’t like the people he kept company with back then, nor the way her son acted when he was around them. Mary and her son were not close when he was growing up, and she regrets now that she didn’t take a greater interest in his life. In general, Mary seems to consider her son something of a troublemaker who draws negative attention to himself. She remembers a time that her son healed a man in defiance of laws that forbid working on the Sabbath and the local people turned on him. She also remembers her son raising Lazarus from the dead and how it seemed to her that Lazarus did not appreciate being brought back to life.

Soon after, Mary and her son go to the wedding of a distant relative in Cana. Mary tries to convince her son to return to Nazareth with her so that he won’t get in more trouble, but he ignores the warnings. Lazarus is also present in Cana, and Mary notices that he has become quiet and very strange. She thinks he has witnessed something that he is not comfortable sharing with anyone.



Her son gradually begins to distance himself from her, and Mary notices him dressing and behaving oddly. She witnesses him turn water into wine, and has a strange feeling of dread when he performs the miracle. After this, people treat her very strangely, and Mary refuses to talk to any of her old friends and community members.

Mary’s cousin Marcus warns her that her son will be crucified and that Mary might not be safe. He gives her the names of people who are faithful to her son and will protect her. Several of Mary’s old friends begin to avoid her, and Mary realizes they are afraid of what will happen. On the day of her son’s execution, Mary goes to the site of the crucifixion with her cousin and a man who has been sent to act as their escort.

When Mary sees her son, she wants to run to him and comfort him, but she can’t. Sensing her son’s worry and pain, she wishes again that she had taken the time to become closer to him and to develop a better relationship. She wonders how she was able to stand by and do nothing at the time. At the site of the crucifixion, Mary sees Marcus standing among the Romans. She starts towards him, but the look of fear on his face stops her. Then she notices that she is being watched by an assassin called The Strangler.



Frightened, Mary leaves the site of the crucifixion before her son is dead. She is annoyed that the men in charge of writing the record of her son’s life insist on saying that she was present until the end. They also write down a dream that Mary had about her son visiting her after his death as though it really happened. She has been uncooperative with the men when they ask her about her son because she knows that they are not writing down the truth, only what they want to be true.