This idea comes up early, on page two: Impatient with the disciples who have come to record her story, Mary bemoans their вЂњearnest need for foolish anecdotes and sharp, simple patterns in the story of what happened to us.вЂќ Later, she says of one disciple, вЂњI know that he has written of things that neither he nor I saw.вЂќ TГіibГn wasnвЂ™t there either, so what is he doing if not inventing another equally contrived history from MaryвЂ™s point of view-and making sure that we see what heвЂ™s up to?ДЄt 81 pages, Testament-an adaptation of his play of the same name, which would go on to be featured on Broadway this past spring-is quite short. ThereвЂ™s enough self-aware winking in the text to suggest that TГіibГnвЂ™s real interest lies in exploring a narrativeвЂ™s inability to capture the truth. It will tell you plenty about its very sad and very angry author.вЂќ In other words, TГіibГn might be putting his own words into MaryвЂ™s mouth less to evoke the state of her soul than to expound some of his own views. So maybe TГіibГn didnвЂ™t intend The Testament of Mary to read as вЂњThe Bible: Uncut.вЂќ Perhaps the most dogmatic review of it out there is from The Catholic World Report, and while it spends most of its time getting ruffled about the blasphemy of TГіibГnвЂ™s work, it does contain an important bit of truth: вЂњColm TГіibГnвЂ™s book wonвЂ™t tell you anything about Mary. She is prone to phrases like вЂњthe bird all sharp beak and indignant gazeвЂќ and вЂњthey were figures of substance, grandeur, immense dignity,вЂќ and sheвЂ™s surprisingly self-conscious about her role in correcting a myth that she sees is in the making.

The voice he provides Mary with is curiously modern-dark and filled with heavy, articulate language. The way TГіibГn pursues this fidelity, however, isnвЂ™t so straightforward. It will tell you plenty about its very sad and very angry author.вЂќ вЂњColm TГіibГnвЂ™s book wonвЂ™t tell you anything about Mary. She flees the crucifixion scene before her son has died, and does so, she confesses, because it was вЂњher own safety thought of.вЂќ TГіibГn seems to strive for emotional fidelity: How might it actually have felt for Mary to witness her sonвЂ™s trajectory? To TГіibГnвЂ™s Mary, Christ and his disciples arenвЂ™t the varnished figures youвЂ™d see in a da Vinci painting instead, theyвЂ™re awkward, slightly unruly outcasts-more like a group of gangly, cargo-shorted teens who skipped the Homecoming dance to go cliff-jumping at the quarry. Unlike the pure, meek woman found on votive candles, this Mary is empowered, and above all, honest. TГіibГnвЂ™s premise, then, is to turn to ChristвЂ™s mother to get the straight story.

By her account, ChristвЂ™s most well-known acts were far from providential, and Mary herself isnвЂ™t as demure as myth would have it: Halfway through the book, she threatens two disciples at knifepoint. Mary relates some of ChristвЂ™s most well-known plot points-the raising of Lazarus, turning water to wine, the crucifixion-all the while waxing nostalgic on simpler days, back when her son wasnвЂ™t The Son. Testament is MaryвЂ™s actual version of events, the more earthly side of the story that her visitors refuse to write down. It is recorded years after the crucifixion, when disciples are visiting her regularly, eager to collect tidily divine stories as fodder for the Gospels.

Testament is MaryвЂ™s first-person account of watching her son turn from a child into a revered godhead. I Made One Simple Financial Change and It Lowered My Spending Joe Pinsker

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