Book Reviews Summer 2009

The Book of Mary Nicola Slee
Review by Sally Barnes

Growing Women Leaders Rosie Warn
Review by various

The Book of Mary
Nicola Slee
SPCK 2007 137pp £11 pbk
ISBN 978-0-281-0581-9

In the preface of her book on Mary, Nichola Slee makes the statement, "Of all the women in the Bible, Mary for me has been the most ambivalent, the most alien and yet the most alluring. I've taken a long time to come to her...".

Well, her and me both. For many years I have been unable to relate to the Mary presented to women by the Church (and I use the word Church in its widest sense). Over generations she has been turned into a role model for women I, and plenty of others, could not recognise as 'Woman'; an impossible model of obedience, domesticity and unachievable perfection. Yet what little we know of her contradicts the construct, the male construct, presented to us from the Early Fathers onwards. Could this acquiescent woman be the same person who spoke the Magnificat? And, if so how indeed has the meaning of this revolutionary hymn been nullified through incorporation into formal Evensong and sung by choirs to beautiful settings up and down the land. It wasn't until I went to a church and heard the woman priest who was presiding singing the Hail Mary, as one woman to another, that a real measure of authenticity tugged at my heart and mind and I began to ponder on what we had lost of her and should reclaim to make her real for both sexes. In her challenging and welcome book, through a mixture of poetry, prose and prayer, Nicola Slee does just this. She observes that Mary, who rightfully belongs as pre-eminent among the company of the Saints, has been isolated from all who came before and after her by Church Tradition and Marian devotion. Through the theme of each chapter we are invited to see Mary as a real woman, doing what real women do: multi-tasking, thinking, gossiping, waiting, raising her children, teaching, praying, fearing, being a companion, a sister, a sexual being and, best of all, 'Returning Her Purchases' – do read that.

The Mary Nicola Slee explores is accessible for women. We can engage with her across the centuries. We can recognise all those features of her life that we in our time understand because they are in fact timeless and our experiences too.

Sally Barnes

Also by Nicola Slee: Praying Like a Woman (SPCK 2004)

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Growing Women Leaders
Rosie Ward
Bible Reading Fellowship - BRF
2008, £8.99 pbk 232 pp
ISBN 978-1-84101-575-0

Rosie Ward explores the concept of leadership in the Church, acknowledging the influences of tradition and culture that have shaped opinion. The book is refreshing in its honesty and recognition of difficulties that women encounter when exercising a perceived counter-cultural leadership role. After eleven years in parish ministry and as the CPASÕs Leadership Develop-ment Adviser, Rosie Ward offers encouragement and practical advice on the nurture and development of women leaders. This book is a valuable resource for all in the Church concerned with the empowerment and development of women leaders.
Beryl Adamson, Editor of OUTLOOK

"A book such as this, which explores our theology, history, and psychology with the aim of releasing and growing women leaders , is a blessing to the Church."
Mike Hill, Bishop of Bristol

"This will be the first book I recommend when approaching this subject. I know of no one I would trust more as a scriptural, sensible and sensitive guide to this vital issue for the 21st-century Church."
Simon Ponsonby Pastor of Theology, St Aldates, Oxford

"An impressive summary of biblical and historical information and an insightful analysis of the issues surrounding women and leadership. Every Church leader – and aspiring leader – should read this book."
Christina Rees, Archbishops' Council

"I thoroughly commend this book as a wise and thought-provoking contribution to an area which is a continuing concern to many women and men."
Christina Baxter, Principal, St John's, Nottingham

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