Miriam’s Joy! Reviewed
I was delighted to read a review by Editor Ed Langlois in last week’s diocesan newspaper, Catholic Sentinel! Here are a few excerpts and the link in case you’d like to read the whole article:
Portland Catholic author Betty Arrigotti has offered a new novel in which the Blessed Virgin Mary appears in our fair city quietly to help a grieving woman. It’s a lively and fulfilling read.
Arrigotti’s depiction of Mary as a joyful Middle Easterner in headscarf satisfies both those with a longstanding devotion and those who may have been put off by a sanitized and Caucasian-ized version. Those who love Mary know she is more than a pretty statue, but a strong woman bent on doing God’s will and justice, as the Magnificat prayer indicates.
“Miriam’s Joy” has a literally explosive opening. The first sections also contain a mystery. While this reader wishes the ambiguity had been carried at least a few more chapters, Arrigotti does show admirable restraint. Mary doesn’t glow in the sky or make the evening news, but instead works kindly and firmly in the everyday life of Portlanders. That’s indeed how God and God’s partners seem to act.
It’s all told in Arrigotti’s clean and expert prose and reflects what we can presume is the author’s knowledge of life’s trials, such as losing loved ones and working out relationships. Arrigotti writes with authenticity about the human experience.
The book’s mix of spiritual and human seems just right.
Arrigotti is a skilled crafter of vignettes. In this book, she uses them to show how Mary helps connect people, which seems like just what Mary would do.
Thank you, Ed Langlois! You made my week! Hopefully a sequel novel will be available before long!
December 27, 2021 3:33 pm | 