TAKE NOTE
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this one has a lot of footnotes so just trust me.
My Grandma Mary owned an auction business in Nevada and the few times she flew across the country to visit us grandkids she came prepared. She brought all sorts of kitschy knick knacks and nonsense along with a bag of pennies. All four of us sisters 1would get the same amount of coins and she’d play auctioneer. We’d raise our hands attempting to outbid each other for choice items. One time, there was a something really ratty none of us older girls wanted, maybe a little purse? Darling little C, the youngest who was a cherub until her teens2, adorably claimed the despised item paying just a penny. She had the last laugh as it contained $5! I think this was some sort of lesson for us and while I never forgot it, I’m not exactly sure what the lesson was…3
Grandma Mary was a character and we’ve got loads of family legends about her. My favorite is that she ran away to marry my grandfather, a suave Italian boy toy on a motorcycle. The place she ran away from? The convent where she was about to take her vows to become a nun. The drama!! The rebellion!! The embracing of her own desire!! May we all be as bold as Mary.
Today’s books focus on some other marvelous Marys. I came across Mary Wollstonecraft’s amazing name and legacy twice in two different books last summer 4and was desperate to learn more about this early feminist thinker who led a brave and provocative life before dying while giving birth to another incredible Mary. Her daughter, Mary Shelley, is an intriguing rebel and legendary writer in her own right. Our last marvelous yet maligned Mary is Mary Magdalene, the first witness in the gospels of Jesus’ resurrection and the first to preach it to others. I had a grand time learning more about each of these remarkable women who haven’t always been treated right by history and I hope you do too.
Don’t be contrary or bloody as you discover more about the Mary of your choice in one of these.
LOVE AND FURY by Samantha Silva
In August 1797, the newly widowed mid-wife Mrs. Blenkinsop is called to the home of Mary Wollstonecraft to assist with a birth. The labor and delivery is long, arduous and tragic as Mary ultimately succumbs to childbed fever eleven days after her daughter is born. Over the course of those dark and painful days, Mrs. Blenkinsop becomes deeply attached to this extraordinary woman, her family and her history while Mary strives to leave behind a portion of her story for her daughter who will grow up to be the innovative author, Mary Shelley.
This is a fictionalized version of Wollstonecraft’s life, cutting back and forth from the present POV of Mrs B and the past POV of Mary. Mary’s sections are addressed to her newborn daughter while Mrs B’s observations are of the present woman so we can use both to puzzle together some understanding about the “mother of first wave feminism”. I enjoyed all the witchy mid-wife wisdom performed during the labor and delivery but oof, did I squirm when that doctor arrived straight from treating another victim patient, refused to wash his hands and proceed to hand scrape the lodged placenta out of Mary’s womb. Truly appalling. How did anyone survive the olden days!? 5
This is lovingly written, well paced and full of fascinating insights into Mary’s life, relationships and mind. Her depressing childhood and her deep, doomed love for Fanny, Fuseli, Imlay and Godwin along with her sharply inquisitive mind all swirl together to create a portrait of an intelligent, complicated and tenacious woman who was ahead of her time and played a hugely influential role in the fight for women’s rights. I enjoyed being privy to the variety of conversations, debates and arguments6 of the time such as the philosophizing around ‘The Great American Experiment’7, the thrill turned horror over The French Revolution and all the think pieces that inspired Mary to write her famous A Vindication of the Rights of Women. This and her other writings8 led to her being called a ‘hyena in petticoats’ and a ‘philosophising serpent’ by, you guessed it, the male ‘thinkers’ of the day. Classic.
There are deeply personal events here too such as Mary protecting her mother from her father’s drunken abuse as a child, saving her sister from an abusive marriage against the law, her stubborn insistence to save drowning French soldiers, starting a school, her bouts of depression and multiple suicide attempts and her ever expanding views on sex, relationships and the alignment of mind and body as she strives for those most essential aspects of being human: freedom and equality. There’s a sense of dreadful irony here as well, which she herself names, because due to the horrendous treatment of some of the men in her life she can embody the sort of woman that she’s always railed against. Indeed at times9 it seems as if she does not much like women despite dedicating much of her intellectual life fighting for their freedom and equality, but we’re shown how her thoughts, feelings and understandings grow and renew over time.10 Her mission and work is laudable and I think not diminished by her complexity, faults and flaws.
I do think this ends prematurely without a chapter about her relationship with Godwin, her husband and the father of her daughter Mary. Much is included about her other relationships, but if this is Mother Mary writing to Baby Mary it seems a glaring omission to leave out information about her own father. I enjoyed learning about Mary in this narrative context and though I think there could have been more exploration, this book didn’t ignore her complicated opinions, her emotional and mental anguish and the evolution of her views. Inspired by these Marys, I just got Romantic Outlaws and A Vindication of the Rights of Women from the library so am feeling quite the feminist scholar atm.
… and finally picked up my pen by the small light of my candle, and write the biggest thought I could conjure: "A wild wish has just flown from my heart to my head, and I will not stifle it, though it may excite a horselaugh. I do earnestly wish to see the distinction of sex confounded in society."
Confounded, ended, debunked. I knew that I'd only said half of what I'd wanted to, that I was ready, finally, to explain to Fuseli—to everyone—what I was, but more, what all women could be, if they had the education that men had. If revolution was in the air, why not one that would restore our lost dignity and make us part of the human species as we were meant to be? I would throw down my gauntlet: No, Fuseli, I don't want women to have power over men, but power, at last, over themselves.
THE MARY WE FORGOT by Jennifer Powell McNutt
Though Mary Magdalene is the first person to preach the gospel11, much of the broader Christian tradition12 has greatly diminished, ignored or mutated her character and story instead choosing to exclude women from leadership and preaching roles13. In this book the author separates the baggage and misunderstandings around this Mary14, highlights her importance in the gospels, explores the legends surrounding her and calls for Christianity to reclaim the truth around this ‘apostle to the apostles’ before sharing what this reformation would mean for women in the church today.
The evangelical tradition I grew up in didn’t allow women to be ordained but did allow them to run the Women’s Ministry and do all sorts of labor in exchange for little to no power and influence15. Even though a woman birthed Jesus, women/a woman16 was the first witness and preacher of Jesus’s resurrection and Jesus even liked women, some men are so dogmatic, close minded and fearful of women having any power that they’ll go apoplectic with rage17 when someone like Bishop Mariann Budde has the moxie to preach the message of Jesus to the most powerful people in the country18 pricking their conscience.19
BACK TO MARY MAGDALENE!
I learned so much in this book and, of course, also had my critiques. Not too long ago I complained to my husband that there were too many Marys in the Gospels, how tf are we supposed to keep them straight!? Indeed, the ‘muddle of Mary’s has caused many misunderstandings and misinterpretations in the last few thousand years of church tradition. Some could have even been intentional. I found it fascinating that these misinterpretations often fell back on the classic Madonna or whore complex as if a woman can only be one of those two things, ignoring the completely other Mary who performs the priestly act of anointing Jesus. Some of this stems from the various definitions of “Magdala” as it was originally thought that this Mary was from the town of Magdala. But interestingly enough there was no town named Magdala in the first century. Magdala is Aramaic for ‘Tower’. Jesus liked him a nickname20 so this Mary is actually Mary the Tower.21
Jerome appreciated the irony of God's plan that fishermen teach the wise. Out of this paradigm we should read his comments pertaining to Mary Magdalene in his letter to Principia (412):
‘The unbelieving reader may perhaps laugh at me for dwelling so long on the praises of mere women; yet if he will but remember how holy women followed our Lord and Saviour and ministered to Him of their substance, and how the three Marys stood before the cross and especially how Mary Magdalen—-called the tower from the earnestness and glow of her faith —was privileged to see the rising Christ first of all before the very apostles, he will convict himself of pride sooner than me of folly.
For we judge of people's virtue not by their sex but by their character, and hold those to be worthy of the highest glory who have renounced both rank and wealth.’
Mary’s story is weird and compelling; she’s an incredibly fascinating and mysterious character who goes from being a demon possessed woman to the first missionary. I appreciated many clever inclusions here like charts that outline all the varieties across the gospels regarding the anointing woman, the women at the cross and at the tomb. Simple and powerful to see the discrepancies laid out like that. Also interesting was the exploration into the legends of Mary’s missionary work in France and how, in addition to missionary, she is also priest, prophet and disciple. McNutt pinpoints some interesting sources of confusion that cluttered Mary the Tower’s character in medieval times; like The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine which flattened and diminished female characters and still holds influence today. Even with all that and more, there were women in the Reformation who claimed authority to preach because of Mary the Tower’s own ordination by Jesus. Pretty cool stuff that no one taught me in Sunday School.
When Chrysostom considers Mary Magdalene among the group of women at the cross and then at the tomb it Homily 88, he makes much of a reversal that God enact through them. Because they do not desert him, they are blessed, and this is a blessing to their sex in general. He writes, "They had followed Him ministering to Him, and were present even unto the time of the dangers.... The sex that was most condemned, this first enjoys the sight of the blessings, this most shows its courage. And when the disciples had fled, these were present."* The compliments are profuse; they are admired for their courage, affection, generosity with money, and nobility. These exemplary women are presented as examples even for men to imitate:
"Let us men imitate the women; let us not forsake Jesus in temptations.”
Though I reveled in the scholarly insights, I wasn’t as enthused with the devotional language and the way the author’s personal story was included. The audience for this book isn’t as wide as for something like “The Making of Biblical Womanhood”22 but is geared more towards those already in the Christian tradition, who are well versed in Christianese and have some prior knowledge of the Church and the gospel. It felt a little too evangelical to me but I know there are some readers of this newsletter who would see this as a pro instead of a con. This has an approachable voice and is never too academic for the lay person which I applaud but while McNutt includes a few personal anecdotes in an effort to emotionally connect, they didn’t work for me. Her writing is flat with little personality and the personal beats were so sparse and held so little tension or emotion that I wondered if they were a later addition. They felt perfunctory instead of personal and I would rather have none and kept it just scholarly or more to add a deeper emotional weight to her quest. This also needed another pass of copy or line edits.
Personally, I would have appreciated a stronger call out and chastisement to the Church for their treatment of women than the tame plea that doesn’t even show up until 200 pages in. Overall though, the content here is important and exciting, though it leaves me in deep mourning for all the women’s voices over the centuries that have been silenced, persecuted and villainized. Where could we be now if half the population had had an equal influence in the Church? Because of that I take issue with the title of this book; I don’t think Mary was forgotten. That is too passive a word. I think she was actually demeaned, belittled, mocked, ignored and rejected purposefully by a religion mired in the smog of patriarchy. So in light of all that, I will be celebrating The Feast of Mary Magdalene on July 22nd.23 Anyone else with me?
By her story the church is challenged to recognize its own walls that prevent female believers in Christ from proclaiming the good news and from being ready to be called and sent. For where would the church be today if the male disciples had not listened to Mary Magdalene?
If they hadn't let her speak when she found them that morning? If they had ignored her completely? And what are we missing today if we don't allow those women who are gifted, called, and sent to preach the good news of Jesus Christ with which they too have been entrusted? If we take Mary Magdalene's calling and sending seriously, how would it change our churches today?
MARY WHO WROTE FRANKENSTEIN by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Júlia Sardà
Though Mary’s mother24 died giving birth to her, her essence always surrounds her. So much so that Mary learned to read by tracing the letters on her mother’s tombstone, perhaps inviting a sense of the macabre into her life at an early age, and reads and re-reads Wollstonecraft’s writings often. Intelligent and rebellious, by the time Mary was 14 she was A Big Problem to her father and stepmother and so she bolted. She toured Europe with other young troublemakers including the famous writer Lord Byron and poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. One dark and stormy night in Geneva a contest was proposed: who could write the best ghost story? And when Mary has a dream25about a monster assembled from the appendages of multiple dead bodies, she knows her story will be the most frightening and exhilarating one of them all26. She will call the story: Frankenstein.
I rarely ever look at children’s books unless I’m reading to my niblings, but I want the shelves of the rolling ladder to cross genres and formats and I just loved that this story existed for this audience.27 While shopping for books for kids, I look for stories with characters that are smart, interesting, brave, weird and most of all curious because these are some of qualities I hope they’ll embrace. But do I even foster these qualities in myself? Much to think about…
BACK TO THE BOOK!
This is dedicated “for the kids who love to daydream and imagine” and it take the reader through all the various elements of Mary’s life that possibly influenced her to write the massively successful and influential science fiction novel28 Frankenstein at the age of 18. While the writing here is fine, 29 Sarda’s gothic illustrations are truly beautiful. Lush, atmospheric and wild with lovely swaths of color reminiscent of the sea—the slate blues, forest greens and ghostly greys of the setting frame the flat, distinct lines of the characters. I was tickled whenever I spied Mary’s bright red hair blowing out with the wind, linking her to the wild energy of the location and her imagination. The little details of candles, knick knacks and book piles that scatter the page added a cozy cushioning to some of the morbid subject matter and I loved that the monster cheekily lurks around Mary like the specter of an idea that won’t let her go. I appreciated that this showed Mary’s youth as an asset rather than a hindrance, the mention of the enduring legacy of Frankenstein and the author’s note which included the books and legends that inspired this book and a list of sources for further reading. This story is a plug to be in conversation with our dreams and imagination and how all the disparate elements of an individual life coalesced so specifically to create a masterpiece.30
“how I, then a young girl, came to think of and to dilate upon so very hideous an idea?”
love the rolling ladder? read! share! heart! comment! or even
any other MARY focused books you’d add to this shelf?
before my brother’s time i’m afraid. sorry P!
when she decidedly was not. love you C-ca!
sometimes there is a diamond in the rough? don’t judge ugly things? grandmas are cheeky?
although i suppose i could ask this now seeing as the US has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world. how utterly shameful is that?
fictionalized though based on letters and other writings
seems like the jury came back on that one…
its called out in the text which i appreciated
women’s lack of rights, and access to finances and education along with the impossible demands placed on them meant that she was often frustrated by their vapidity. but that vapidity is a feature not a bug of a patriarchal society so i think while she projected some of her internal fears of insecurity onto them, she also fought for them to get out from under this oppression, to have equal power over themselves.
to christians this is the good news of jesus christ’s resurrection
i’m mostly thinking of white american evangelicalism here but there are other traditions
classic patriarchy
there are after all a ‘muddle of marys’ in the gospels
a topic i’m looking forward to reading more about in the forthcoming ‘becoming the pastor’s wife’ by beth allison barr
depending on what gospel you’re reading. they don’t all say the exact same thing. which i’m sure you knew already
men. so emotional.
reactions like “Bishop Mariann Budde is exhibit A for why women should not be pastors, priests, or bishops”. i was going to link to to source for this but i felt so sick to my stomach reading the transcript that i can’t do it. instead shall we ask ‘what would jesus do’ and see how he treated women? even someone like the foreign, hysterical, rebellious and nevertheless persistent canaanite woman.
just kidding! they don’t even have a conscience!
remember Peter the Rock or ‘Rocky’?
i was first exhilarated by this information in diana butler bass’s essay “Mary the Tower”. I urge anyone who participates in christian circles to read it and note the translation ‘errors’ it exposes.
The word magdala in Aramaic means tower. And so now you get the full picture. In the Synoptics, Jesus and Peter have a discussion. In that discussion, Peter utters the Christological confession. As a result of the Christological confession, Jesus says, "You are Peter the Rock." In the gospel of John, Mary and Jesus have a conversation, and Mary utters the Christological confession. And she comes to be known as Mary the Tower.
from the f*ck the patriarchy shelf
celebrating "an evangelist who proclaims the central joyous message of Easter," St. Mary Magdalene's feast day is a call for all Christians to "reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the new evangelization and the greatness of the mystery of divine mercy."
mercy… now where did i hear that before?
mary wollstonecraft, see above
i definitely want to read more about the fascinating mary shelley but i wanted to go a little offbeat and whimsical here first. and i guess i should read frankenstein itself at some point…
widely regarded as the first modern sci fi novel which is pretty incredible
i don’t really know how to critique kid’s books
fuck you AI
This post reminded me of a book I read several years ago called Death and the Maidens: Fanny Wollstonecraft and the Shelley Circle, by Janet Todd. It included a lot about Mary Shelley and was really interesting. But what I remember most is that Percy Shelley was REALLY TERRIBLE at managing money, among the many ways in which he was really terrible.
I will definitely read Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein, thank you! I listened to an audiobook of Frankenstein a few years ago when December was reading the novel for high school English. So good and we did a lot of chortling over the idiocy of Victor Frankenstein.
A fictional Mary whose stories I have enjoyed is Mary Russell of The Beekeeper's Apprentice and sequels, by Laurie R. King.
You are forgiven, A.