She's the most famous woman in history, yet almost nothing is known about her. Although she's portrayed as the gentlest and most tragic of all women, her name has been used as an excuse for internecine hatred and wars between peoples.

But who was Mary, mother of Jesus Christ? What type of family did she have? What was the community like in which she grew from child to teenager forced to marry a man three times her age?

And why have virtually all the details of her early life been obscured and censored by the writers of the Bible?

In The Book of Mary, novelist Alan Gold looks at first century Israel under the iron heels of Roman occupation and uncovers what life was like for a young woman in a distant outpost of the most aggressive and merciless Empire in history. Following Mary's story from teenager to a young woman married to a widower, to mother, and then to become a devotee of the new religion her Son had created. This tragic yet virtually unknown woman is forced to witness the excruciating pain of her son's crucifixion.