Mad Mary by Liz Curtis Higgs
February 7, 2008 | reviews
Liz Curtis Higgs is one of my favorite authors, for many reasons. The first is that she didn’t allow herself to be pushed into a literary corner where you can only be funny or spiritual or deep. She’s a funny lady, but also a writer with depth. It’s a nice combination. She’s a nonfiction author, but her last several books are fiction.
I’m reading one of her books right now: Mad Mary: A Bad Girl from Magdala, Transformed at His Appearing
In this book, published by Waterbrook Press, Higgs shares the story of Mary, a woman who appears homeless, but who lost her mind and her bearings after the suicide of her daughter. She meets Jake, a pastor who works in the inner city church, and the last thing that she wants is an intrusive pastor in her world.
This isn’t a pat story with a pithy ending, but a story of a woman lost to herself and to society. Her real story is much more complicated than how she appears to others.
But Higgs does something unexpected. After drawing Mary’s story to an end, she invites the reader into the story of the Biblical Mad Mary, who some paint as a prostitute, but Scripture reveals a tormented woman with seven demons.
I know it’s not popular to talk about demons, and yet I think we live in a world where people grapple with personal demons of all kinds: addiction, loneliness, abandonment, rage.
I felt hope as I read Mary’s story. Because I know that there are many who have encountered Christ and found stability and life change and hope, and most of all, love. Scripture calls it “set free”. How appropriate. And I know many who are searching for that.
Mad Mary by Liz Curtis Higgs is a good read, whether following Mary Delaney’s story or that of Mary Magdelene. I think it’s a must-read.
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