This unusual biography blends imagination and fact in an exquisitely told tale about the most reveled and admired woman of Christianity. Hazleton has been criticized for blurring the lines between research and fiction. (It's true--she does.) Nonetheless, she weaves an outstanding interpretation of this Palestinian girl, who probably went by the name of Maryam and gave birth to "the son of God" at the age of 13. At times Hazleton's style seems similar to that of Anita Diamant in The Red Tent-—fully imagining the everyday feminine details of biblical women: "Maryam learned early about childbirth. Since she was young, her grandmother has taken her along whenever there's a delivery. The old woman is in her fifties, but as alert and sharp as any shepherd girl; like all village wise women, she seems to defy age. Her name? The same as the midwife of apocryphal legend: Salome." Hazleton goes on to depict Maryam as an astute apprentice, mixing herbs and learning the craft of healing and midwifery from her legendary grandmother. Hazleton assumes that Maryam was a gifted faith healer and member of a resistance movement against King Herod--gifts and values that were obviously passed onto her son. She also offers a compelling discussion into the identity of Joseph, even questioning his existence. Hazleton sees him as a vague father-figure for Mary, more so than a father to Jesus. The main reason he exists in the Bible, she speculates, is to establish Jesus as a descendent of Kind David. Though purists and fundamentalists may cry blasphemy, many modern readers will find this a refreshingly feminine and respectful life study of a cherished woman, mother and icon. --Gail Hudson


From Booklist
*Starred Review* With so many prayers, hopes, and legends surrounding the figure of Mary, mother of Jesus, is it even possible to come anywhere near the flesh-and-blood woman living in first-century Palestine? Hazelton not only helps readers to see who this Mary might have been but also places her in a social and religious context, shows how she absorbed the goddess myths, and does it all in language that is thoughtful, evocative, and eminently readable. "She is thirteen. Short and wiry with dark olive skin . . . the shift hides the gentle bulge in her belly. She is unmarried and pregnant." So begins this "biography" of a woman representative of all. Hazelton, who has lived in the Middle East, calls upon her knowledge of the area and the people to help readers understand Mary's milieu. What did it mean to be pregnant and unmarried in Mary's time? Not much. Nor would talk of humans as gods or the idea of being born of virgins be considered especially surprising. At times, Hazelton makes readily acknowledged speculative leaps--e.g., Mary as a village healer who passes along her knowledge to her son--and the text skims lightly over a few thorny points, including the fact that Jesus' tone in the Bible is often harsh when speaking to his mother or about his family. But Hazelton's musings on the Resurrection and on the meaning of Mary's virginity are dazzling to read and weighty to ponder. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Booklist
"Thoughtful, evocative, and eminently readable....Dazzling to read and weighty tto ponder."


Review
"Readers who loved...The Red Tent will find this book...just as enthralling. A ppage-turner."


Book Description
Arguably the most influential of all women throughout history, Mary, the Virgin Mother is also, paradoxically, the least known. In this unprecedented brilliantly wrought biography, Mary comes believably to life.

We are so used to the legendary image of the Madonna that the very idea of her as a real person sets the eyes alight. Starting with the dark-skinned, hard-muscled girl barely out of adolescence when she gave birth, Lesley Hazleton weaves together the many facets of Mary's existence: peasant villager, wise woman and healer, activist, mother, teacher, and yes, virgin, though in a sense we have long forgotten. She follows her through the worst any mother can experience-the excruciating death of her child-and then looks at how she transforms grief into wisdom, disaster into renewal. Strong and courageous, the source of her son's powers of healing and wisdom, the Mary we see here did not merely assent to her role in history, but actively chose it, and lived it to the fullest.

As a former psychologist and political reporter with deep roots in both Judaism and Catholicism, Hazleton has drawn on years of Middle East experience as well as on anthropology, history, theology, and above all, empathy to reconstruct Mary's life. The woman she discovers is neither demystified nor diminished, but on the contrary, all the more meaningful and admirable. By honoring her reality, Hazleton has given her back to herself-and to us.



About the Author
Lesley Hazleton is the award-winning author of eight books, including Jerusalem, Jerusalem and Where Mountains Roar. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, Harper's, Parade, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Mirabella, and The Nation. She lived in and reported from Jerusalem for thirteen years, and now lives in Seattle.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Beginning with a vision of a dark-skinned girl barely out of adolescence when she gives birth, Lesley Hazleton draws a fierce and inspiring portrait from Mary's myriad identities: peasant villager, wise woman and healer, activist, mother, teacher, and yes, virgin, though in a sense we have long forgotten. We see how she becomes pregnant, how she raises her son to inspire and to lead, and how she survives the worst any mother can experience - the excruciating death of her child. Above all, as Jesus is buried and resurrected, we gain new insight into the depth of Mary's wisdom as she transforms grief into action, and disaster into renewal.

FROM THE CRITICS

The Washington Post

Lesley Hazleton makes explicit in the last sentence of Mary: A Flesh-and-Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother what she assumes throughout. To her, the mother of the Christ is a Whitmanesque Everywoman: "we are all her." Nor is Whitman a bad referent here; Hazleton's scattershot portrait of Mary—whom she stubbornly and quirkily insists on calling Maryam—does indeed contain multitudes.—Jeremy Lott

Publishers Weekly

Readers who loved the phenomenally popular fictional chronicle of Jacob's daughter Dinah in Anita Diamant's The Red Tent will find this book about Mary, the mother of Jesus, just as enthralling. Hazleton, who spent 13 years living in and reporting from Jerusalem, has clearly done her scholarly homework, displaying a solid knowledge of Jewish history, ancient religions and the various Christian sectarian movements that sprang up after Jesus' death. She also knows how to write a page-turner, using vivid vocabulary and attention to detail to keep the audience on edge. Her Jesus is akin to the peasant agitator described by many contemporary liberal biblical scholars, and her Mary is a healer, a villager whose birthright is Jewish resistance against Roman rule. This Mary sees no conflict between worshipping the virgin goddess Isis and the Jewish Yahweh. But Hazleton's willingness to move from the bare-boned New Testament references to her own feminist and anti-fundamentalist brand of speculation and assumption may be a real problem for readers who expect anything like a traditional biography. Others may disagree with her assertion that "a degree of polytheism is built into Catholicism in the idea of the Holy Trinity, for example, and in the vast panoply of saints to whom believers pray." While this book probably won't capture the hearts of theologically conservative readers, it certainly should have appeal for those tantalized and often frustrated by the great gaps of biographical detail in the New Testament accounts. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Akin to Jewish midrash, a type of creative reconfiguring of the text in which the author places him/herself squarely within the material in order to elucidate new insights, this book seeks to add metaphoric and emotional meat to the remote mother of Jesus. Author and journalist Hazleton (Jerusalem, Jerusalem) takes readers through an impressive array of historical, cultural, literary, and spiritual topics, ranging from the Aramaic roots of words, to the biological function of the hymen, to a consideration of the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia, which privileges women in Jesus' circle. Simultaneously, Hazleton offers conjectures about Mary's possible life in a Jewish monastic community of Therapeutics or becoming pregnant with Jesus as the result of a brutal rape. Without the weight of an overbearing academic taxonomy (though endnotes and bibliography are provided), this book is an easy read, and Hazleton's stream-of-consciousness style is intriguing. However, some might find it a bit too breezy, too sweeping, or downright troubling in some of its claims. Recommended for general religion and women's studies collections.-Sandra Collins, Univ. of Pittsburgh Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews