Portrait of Mary

by Nikki Grimes

Venerated for centuries, Mary remains, in the minds of many, a remote figure, portrayed in much of Western art as belonging more to heaven than to earth, with little to remind us of her very human roots in a complex Middle Eastern culture and historical time. In Nikki Grimes's vibrant narrative Mary's life is made palpable: the hard work she must have performed, the foods she must have prepared, the physical pain and tumultuous emotions she must have felt, the luminous faith that sustained her through the awe and anguish of witnessing the life and death of her son. Grimes stays remarkably close to the events and characters portrayed in Scripture while she brings Mary's life near to us, making her story startlingly fresh and powerful.

Both down-to-earth and devout, Portrait of Mary reminds us of the earthshaking nature of the "greatest story ever told", the story of the Word made flesh. Written with grace and elegant simplicity, it is a gift book to enlighten and inspire readers of all ages.

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Sincerae Smith]

This was a good light read. In this novella Jesus' mother Mary tells her and her sons' story. I like the cover art and how the book was laid out.

[Jonas Perez]

Enjoyable perspective brought to light. The motherly and womanly insight is very inviting and well written. A lot of research was done towards Jewish culture and custom, which is also easy to appreciate. As a Catholic I disagree with major parts, understandably, but it is innovative and insightful.

[Kelly]

I read it from cover to cover. It's a historical fiction book about the life of the Virgin Mary, the blessed mother. Very interesting. It's a story about before she married Joseph. And during their courtship and all that leads to the Birth Of Jesus Christ. How she raised him to become devouted Jew. He did his father's work, he learned carpentry from Joseph. But his father work was the word of God. And that is why Jesus is called the Messiah. I enjoyed reading this book.

[Debbie Hoskins]

Found some old reviews that I didn't put on Goodreads among my Mary books. Can you tell I'm moving?
I liked that Ms. Grimes collected the Biblical passages about Mary and expanded on them.

I preferred Ms. Grimes book, A Girl Named Mister, 2010.

I recommend Elizabeth Berg's The Handmaid and the Carpenter, which breathed more life into Mary's thoughts than Ms. Grimes' books

[Pat]

I really enjoyed this book.