My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Mary and Martha are two very different sisters. Mary loves to learn, study prophecies, and even lingers outside the synagogue in the hopes of catching pieces of knowledge unavailable to women of her time. Martha keenly feels her responsibilities at home and places great emphasis on fulfilling her duties. Both sisters live with their brother Lazarus, who is a wealthy olive oil merchant, and his young family. Then one day, amidst the toil and bustle of small village life, Jesus Christ enters their lives and things take a turn. Discipleship brings unexpected friendships and unexpected challenges. Each sibling must learn for themselves how Jesus' teachings apply personally to them, and the hope and healing that only He can provide.

For anyone who enjoys a nice biblical retelling, I would give this book a 4-Star rating. For my own personal tastes though, I give it a 3-Star rating.

I'm going to be completely open here--Scriptural fiction is not really my cup of tea. I love the scriptures and take them very seriously, and because of my deeply-held feelings about scripture, it can be hard for me to enjoy scripture-based fiction.

That being said, I know there are some who really enjoy scripture-based fiction. Here is a breakdown of my thoughts about this book:

I really enjoyed the loving family dynamics and the strong theme of faith in this story. It was very refreshing to read a fictional story that directly promotes faith in Jesus Christ and the application of His teachings in family and community settings.

Trying to imagine what it might have been like to witness Jesus' miracles firsthand and to consider His healing influence in my own life was really powerful. There were many direct quotes from the Old and New Testaments, which I loved. Everything that Jesus said was taken directly from the New Testament, and the author didn't try to create any new words from Jesus Christ's mouth. I appreciated that and interpret that as reverence for His words.

I also appreciated the cultural and contextual accuracy of the fiction. The plot, characters, and details all jive with my (limited) knowledge of ancient Jerusalem, the surrounding area, and Judaism in biblical times.

Unfortunately, there were some relationships that just didn't seem totally believable for me. There is a fictional romantic relationship that didn't feel totally developed, and it didn't seem like the family interacted enough with Jesus Christ to have the depth of relationship with Him described in the New Testament.

Overall, this was a cute book with a pleasant story. However, it didn't really stand out to me enough to recommend it to someone, unless it were someone I knew loved scripture-based fiction.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.com. All opinions are entirely my own.

I always enjoy this author's biblical novels, her writing is exceptional. This book is one of my very favorites. I feel like I see this well known story in such a different light and it has strengthened my faith. It is a must read!

A very well written fictional account of the story of Mary and Martha from the Bible. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

This is my first read from H.B. Moore, and I was very impressed with her Biblical knowledge, historical research of the life and culture of the time period, and her speculation at what would be fictionally appropriate to expand the story of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. As I read, I felt like I was right there as the events took place that surrounded the ministry of Jesus. We know very little from the Bible of Lazarus and his sisters other than their encounters with Jesus, but Moore gave us more of a picture of what their emotions, relationships, and general life during that time period might be like. I especially liked the addition of the fiction characters, particularly Horeb, who fleshed out the story line and felt perfect for that time and culture. The inclusion of many appropriate Bible scriptures at the perfect point in the story brought a cohesion to the story connecting fact with fiction.

I look forward to reading more of Moore's Biblical fiction.

**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions are mine alone. I was not compensated for this review.

I wasn't sure going in to this book if I would love reading a 'fleshed out' version of the scripture stories I know and love, or not. Would it feel like a solid story, or would it just feel off? I'm happy to say I did enjoy Mary and Martha. The book follows these two sisters and their experiences with their brother Lazarus, and Jesus. Do I think it was 100 percent accurate? No. But it was obvious the author had done her research into the time and the scriptural accounts.

This is the first Bible retelling story that I have read from H.B. Moore and I am excited to read more. I loved this story. I know it is fiction, but I loved getting a glimpse into what life was like during the time of Christ and how things may have happened or come about. I have always loved the story of this family and enjoyed the fictitious lives the author gave them. It allowed me to understand the scriptures and friendships better, even though it is fiction. I don't want to give anything away, so will just say again that I really enjoyed this book and felt my testimony strengthened.

I was given a complimentary copy from the publisher through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

H.B. Moore skillfully enhanced the biblical story of Mary and Martha. She gave life to these characters while maintaining the scriptural integrity of the story. There was depth and meaning added to the story. Mary and Martha served as both a read for pleasure while increasing my understanding of Christ in the scriptures. There were fictional elements added but the pieces from the scriptures were there. They were woven together and made for a really great read.

This is one of those books that I needed to let settle before doing a review. I am just hoping that I am able to express my thoughts in such a way that will persuade someone to read it.

Mary and Martha are the Biblical figures that we are familiar with. This story encompasses an idea of the time right before Lazarus met Jesus to the events following the crucifixion and resurrection. There was obviously some license taken with the characters and the people surrounding them because we don't see much of them in the Bible. However, this license was taken with respect and with love for the Biblical story.

Of course, Jesus is shown as a character in this story. He is portrayed with respect. In the scene where Lazarus meets him for the first time, I was nearly overcome with the love from my Savior coming off the page. It has stuck with me sense. Much of the dialogue of Christ comes from scripture especially from times when he taught the people.

The portrayal of Mary and Martha in the story is true to the personalities of the women as shown in the Bible. I was happy with the addition of family and friends that enriched the story.

I believe that Biblical Fiction would be very tricky to write knowing how there is sometimes not much information about different people who are mentioned. I think that H. B. Moore did a fantastic job with this story and these characters. I would definitely read this again.

I received an early copy and this is my honest review.

This is a cute little piece of Biblical fiction. I wouldn’t say it gave me any significant insight into these Biblical characters, but the story itself seems plausible and the historic details authentic. Some of the Biblical details seem rather awkwardly thrown in, and it would have been nice to see more interaction of these characters with Jesus. They were so few and far between that I didn’t come away with the feeling they were great friends with Him. Mostly it’s a sweet tale of two sisters each getting their happily ever after over the background of important Biblical events.

Mary and Martha
by H.B Moore
Back of the Book: “For prosperous landowner Lazarus, hard work and extensive travel are a means to comfortably support his family, including his two sisters, Mary and Martha. Following a journey to sell his wares, Lazarus stumbles upon an opportunity to assist a stranger in need, delaying his return home. Through Lazarus’s selfless act of service, he, Mary, and Martha find themselves standing witness to miracles they never dreamed possible in the presence of a man who will forever change them and those they love—a man called Jesus of Nazareth.
Experience as never before the accounts of those who knew Christ, not only as the Savior of the World but also as a friend.”
Impressions: I enjoyed reading the gospel this way as it reminded me of how human the people of the Bible were. This book would be a way to share the gospel with others with little pressure. Although this story is fiction it is biblically based with scripture throughout.
Liked: I enjoyed reading about Mary and Martha. I appreciated the real life struggles and feelings these women might have experienced.
Disliked: Although I enjoyed this book, I feel like there were times that the scripture was a bit heavy and it took away from the story making it feel like I was just reading my Bible.
Learned: There is something special to me when I read about the people of the Bible through fiction. It feels more personable. I think it is easy to get caught up in all the structure or rules the Bible has to offer. Even the reverence in which I approach the Bible can make the words feel disconnected with me. When I think about the people of the Bible however in story format such as this it reminds me how imperfect they were. God used them and He will use me and you as well if we seek Him to do so. I learned that I need not be afraid of sharing my faith. I especially was inspired by Horeb’s faith. His attitude was encouraging to me.
Quotes: “You have never been second choice, Martha.” – This will not make sense unless you read this story but I really liked it. I can just imagine being told this and how it would just melt my heart.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review shared here.

I have read the encounter of Martha and Mary in the scriptures. There is so little mentioned about them and their brother Lazarus. I often have wondered what their life would have been like. What would it mean to have Jesus come to your home? H.B. Moore does a great job giving us a fictional view of their life in biblical times. The characters were believable and the book was well written. I received a copy of this story from Covenant Communications through NetGally. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I really liked how the relationships were portrayed between the siblings, Lazarus, Martha and Mary. Their strong bond is so beautiful. It was interesting to read about what life may have been like in their day. The fictional side characters were well written and equally likable. I feel like I gained more insight into Martha and Mary's personalities. I felt like I could relate to each of them in different ways. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those seeking to know more about this scriptural account and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Lazarus, Martha and Mary were siblings who are described as friends of Jesus. Mary anointed his feet, and Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus following an illness. This book tries to imagine what their lives might have been like around the time of Jesus' ministry.

This is a nice enough story as a piece of fiction, but as a piece of Biblical fiction I found it disappointing. There were various things that did not seem to me to fit with the Bible (some definitely didn't fit, others were more uncertain). For example, the siblings are described as friends of Jesus, and yet the story seems to have them meeting only about three times - which doesn't seem right to me. Another example is the feeding of the 4,000 - we are told that the people had been there for three days by the time Jesus fed them, whereas in the story it was only the one day. The whole story also felt somewhat shallow, though it did make me think a bit about how things might actually have happened. Finally, I found it annoying that Jesus spoke in KJV English whereas everyone else spoke normally - Jesus brought a special message but spoke the same language as everyone else, not some outdated, archaic-for-the-sake-of-supposedly-being-holy language. It disrupted the flow and was completely unrealistic. This is the second Biblical fiction story I've read by the author; the first was equally fictional but at least didn't contradict the Bible that I noticed, but this one would make me far less likely to try future contributions to the genre by this author. All in all, if you just want a story and don't care about accuracy, this is quite well written and you might enjoy it. If you want Biblical fiction that fleshes out the Bible without contradicting it, try some other author. 2.5 stars.

Note that I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review and this is my considered opinion of the book.

It took me awhile to get into this one. The author takes many liberties to expand the lives of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus beyond the little we know of from scripture, and I found this difficult to adjust to initially.

However as the story progressed, I enjoyed seeing them fleshed out and joining the author in imagining what they might have been like as real people who existed in history.

Unfortunately, the parts with Jesus in did not seem to fit with the rest of the story. The author was careful to stick closely to scriptural passages, which is understandable, but seemed contradictory to the rest of the language used. If the main characters are speaking in modern language throughout the rest of the book, it's quite jarring to suddenly have things changed to "thee"s and "thou"s etc. It felt very inconsistent and I felt it detracted from being able to immerse myself in the story.

A valiant attempt, and an interesting take on followers of the Saviour. But ultimately disappointing, particularly in comparison to the author's other scriptural based novels.

Opening line:
"Martha knelt on the patch of stubby grass poking through the stony ground of her late husband's burial place."

Many are similar with the Biblical story of the sisters Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus. They were all friends of Jesus Christ, learned the gospel at his knee and were there when Lazarus was raised from the dead.
Moore paints a beautiful picture of what could possibly have been their story, if only we could know it. The world, the era, the people are all well-written and vivid. There were many times I wondered what it would've been like to live in the same area as Christ and to listen to his teachings.

Thanks to netgalley and Covenant for the early read!

I loved this book! I've always wanted to know more about Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus. There's people in the Bible that will get mentioned or have part of their story told and you wonder what was their life like? How did Jesus effect them before and after? I've always considered what it was like for Martha to be told by Jesus that Mary had the right idea by listening and not worrying so much about serving food. What was it like for Mary to wash Jesus's feet with her tears, perfume and hair while the disciples stood there and said that's too expensive to waste, the money should be given to the poor!
Or what was it like when Jesus said to Lazurus in his tomb, Lazurus rise up!?
This book answers all of these questions and more. This is one of the Biblical fiction books I can say was spot in with what the times were like, the clothes, the politics, the timeline, it followed all of it.
There was one thing though that I didnt like, well liked and didn't. They used scripture word for word when Jesus and most of the disciples spoke. Which was awesome. However, when they used the scripture it was King James Version. So while everyone else in the book spoke English similar to today, everytime Jesus spoke it was thee, thy, ye, and so forth. It stuck out like a sore thumb. I don't know if it was done on purpose to make Jesus stick out as a person or if they were just using King James Version for another reason. I've read books from Early English and Middle English, they're hard to get through so writing a book all in this kind of English is difficult, but instead of using King James maybe another version would've been better so it wasn't so different from the rest of the book.
That is the ok only thing about the book I have to critique, otherwise I loved this book and can't wait to read more by H.B
Moore!!!
I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced ARC copy. I appreciate the confidence in my opinions. I was only asked to give an honest review in return, and this is my honest opinion.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54127279-mary-and-martha" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Mary and Martha" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599837695l/54127279._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54127279-mary-and-martha">Mary and Martha</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7158653.H_B_Moore">H.B. Moore</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3600378399">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
The story of Mary and Martha. The first part of the novel was wonderful. Getting to know the family and their friends was wonderful. Lazarus a grateful l brother and friend, Mary a knowledgeable girl who doesn't want to follow what the other girls do, getting married and having children. Martha a hard worker with a huge heart but she is also widow, can she find love once again. The 2nd part of the book seem like a laundry list of biblical quotes that the author had to follow. I felt like I had to check off everything event that happen. They made sure they had everything from the Bible in the novel, even things that didn't fit. After awhile it got overwhelming. So I feel like the book are 2 parts. I did enjoy the read but I could only give it 3 stars. I am so glad I did read it and look forward from more from this author.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/104718635-christine-indorf">View all my reviews</a>

This is a wonderful book that brings the story of Mary and Martha to life. I love how the author included parables and the miracles of Jesus into the story. This is a book you don't want to miss. Thank you Covenant Communications via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

I have read the story of Mary and Martha from the Bible several times looking for lessons I can apply to my own life. This fictional telling gives details of how the loving sisters of Lazarus come to meet and hear the words of Jesus Christ. Martha is a young widow and loves to serve others in the traditional ways of the time. Mary is more scholarly having been taught to read and study scripture.

I am new to H.B. Moore and appreciate her including parables and teachings shared by Jesus. By having Mary be a scholar it explains her recognizing the signs of his coming and knowing that he will be betrayed. I enjoyed the extra sisterly interactions of the two woman. They can be frustrated by each other and see each others strengths. There is even romance too.

This was a quick and joyful read. Thank you to NetGalley, Covenant Communications and the author for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

H. B. Moore has taken on the daunting task of bringing to life some of the associates of Jesus Christ and chronicling their interactions with him while imagining what their lives may have been like.  I appreciated the sensitivity with which she approached this subject matter and her faithfulness to the scriptural teachings of Jesus.  Her depictions of the siblings Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were complete with insights into the lifestyles and traditions of the time and allowed the reader to experience what it might have been like to associate with Jesus from the various perspectives.  The human side of these interactions, the emotions and insights leading to growth, were insightful and poignant.  It is fascinating to see another perspective of what someone imagined it might have been like to walk and talk with Jesus Christ.

I received a complimentary copy of this book.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.