Book Review: Mary and Martha by H.B. Moore

 

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Mary and Martha are two very different sisters. Mary loves to learn, study prophecies, and even lingers outside the synagogue in the hopes of catching pieces of knowledge unavailable to women of her time. Martha keenly feels her responsibilities at home and places great emphasis on fulfilling her duties. Both sisters live with their brother Lazarus, who is a wealthy olive oil merchant, and his young family. Then one day, amidst the toil and bustle of small village life, Jesus Christ enters their lives and things take a turn. Discipleship brings unexpected friendships and unexpected challenges. Each sibling must learn for themselves how Jesus' teachings apply personally to them, and the hope and healing that only He can provide.

For anyone who enjoys a nice biblical retelling, I would give this book a 4-Star rating. For my own personal tastes though, I give it a 3-Star rating.

I'm going to be completely open here--Scriptural fiction is not really my cup of tea. I love the scriptures and take them very seriously, and because of my deeply-held feelings about scripture, it can be hard for me to enjoy scripture-based fiction.

That being said, I know there are some who really enjoy scripture-based fiction. Here is a breakdown of my thoughts about this book:

I really enjoyed the loving family dynamics and the strong theme of faith in this story. It was very refreshing to read a fictional story that directly promotes faith in Jesus Christ and the application of His teachings in family and community settings.

Trying to imagine what it might have been like to witness Jesus' miracles firsthand and to consider His healing influence in my own life was really powerful. There were many direct quotes from the Old and New Testaments, which I loved. Everything that Jesus said was taken directly from the New Testament, and the author didn't try to create any new words from Jesus Christ's mouth. I appreciated that and interpret that as reverence for His words. 

I also appreciated the cultural and contextual accuracy of the fiction. The plot, characters, and details all jive with my (limited) knowledge of ancient Jerusalem, the surrounding area, and Judaism in biblical times.

Unfortunately, there were some relationships that just didn't seem totally believable for me. There is a fictional romantic relationship that didn't feel totally developed, and it didn't seem like the family interacted enough with Jesus Christ to have the depth of relationship with Him described in the New Testament.

Overall, this was a cute book with a pleasant story. However, it didn't really stand out to me enough to recommend it to someone, unless it were someone I knew loved scripture-based fiction.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.com. All opinions are entirely my own.