Michael McGrinder

Mary Michael McGrinder

For the first time ever: Mary, the mother of Jesus, is portrayed as a human being. The gospels pay Mary scant attention while her husband Joseph seems to exist merely to legitimize Jesus' birth. Mary has been called the Queen of Heaven, but life on this mortal coil is not lived wearing a halo. What of the holy family's everyday life? In this compelling story, Michael McGrinder draws from gospels canonical and apocryphal in addition to many contemporaneous sources to place Mary at the center of her own narrative. The story of Jesus' nativity is honored as is the oft-suppressed fact that Mary was the mother of several other children. And a boldly charismatic Joseph comes alive here, rugged and handsome with a bit of a temper and a brash sense of humor. Mary is followed from her own conception through her life at the Temple, her betrothal and her family life with all the iconic moments sharing time with the mundane. Here is the extraordinary story of the brave, gentle and loving woman who became the mother of the most famous person ever to have lived.