The Testament

The Testament is a Adventure Story by American author John Grisham. It was published in hardcover by Doubleday on February 2, 1999.

Plot

Troy Phelan, an eccentric elderly billionaire, has written many wills during his life, but right before he dies by suicide, he leaves one final will, a holographic will, as a last surprise. He then leaps from a balcony to his death. He leaves his vast fortune to an illegitimate daughter, Rachel Lane, instead of his six children by three marriages. Her existence comes as a total surprise to everyone. His reason is revulsion over years of fighting with, and embarrassment from, his family, as well as their greed — much of which was due to his neglect of his children and multiple affairs (both personal and business).

His lawyers are now tasked with protecting Troy's wishes as well as finding the heiress. Nate O'Riley, a high-powered litigation lawyer and now recovering alcoholic, is sent to Brazil, where Rachel is believed to be living as a missionary.

The Testament (album)

The Testament is the third studio album by Queensbridge rapper Cormega. The album was originally recorded as Cormega's debut album in the mid-90's, and scheduled for a release on Def Jam Records, but was eventually shelved. Cormega, after many years, was finally able to obtain the masters to the album, and released it on his own Legal Hustle imprint in 2005.

The title track appeared on a CD-sampler celebrating the 10 years of Def Jam Recordings, this release lists The Testament original release date to have been September 1, 1998.

Track listing

Samples

Charts

References

The Testament (Van Lustbader novel)

The Testament (also known as the The Bravo Testament) is a 2006 thriller novel by Eric Van Lustbader.

Plot summary

The book is about Braverman Shaw, whose father, Dexter Shaw, is killed by an explosion. After his death Braverman, for friends Bravo, finds out that his father was a member of the Gnostic Observant, a group of people who possess a very old secret of Jesus Christ. Bravo has to find the secret and keep it hidden from their sworn enemies, the Knights of Saint-Clemens. His father left behind a maze, which Bravo has to solve in order to find the secret. During his journey he's attacked by the Knights multiple times, and they're closer than he thinks.

Footnotes

References

The Testament of Mary

The Testament of Mary is a short novel by Irish writer Colm Tóibín. The book was published on 13 November 2012 by Scribner's.

Plot

The novel concerns the life of Mary, mother of Jesus, in her old age. She does not believe that her son was the son of God and refuses to co-operate with the writers of the gospels, who regularly visit her and provide her with food and shelter.

Reception

Initial critical reception for the book has been positive, with a reviewer for the Irish Independent writing that "To say that this is a departure for the Wexford novelist is an understatement, but it can hardly fail to be a major talking point when it's published in October".The Huffington Post also commented favourably on Tóibín's attempts to humanise Mary, saying: "The Testament of Mary" is a reminder that Jesus indeed had a mother, and she was nobody's fool."

It was on the shortlist for the 2013 Man Booker Prize.

Stage adaptation

Tóibín first produced the book as a monologue for the 2011 Dublin Theatre Festival, under the name of Testament. In January 2013, it was announced that Fiona Shaw would star in a Broadway stage adaptation of the play, titled The Testament of Mary, produced by Scott Rudin. Despite positive reviews and three Tony Award nominations (including a nomination for the prestigious Best Play), the production was closed on May 5, 2013 – almost a month and a half before its run was due to end – prompting Fintan O'Toole to comment: "I spent three years as a critic on Broadway, and I still can’t claim to understand it. But this strange conjunction of apparent success and utter failure functions as a microcosm in which some of its oddities can be seen with a reasonable degree of clarity. If you can grasp why a producer would close a show in response to the news that it has just been nominated for three Tony Awards, you can get some sense of how Broadway works."United Solo awarded Shaw's performance with the special award at the 2013 festival.

The Testament of Mary (play)

The Testament of Mary is a play written by Colm Tóibín, based on his 2012 novella of the same name and 2011 play Testament. The play is a solo performance depicting "the mother of Jesus [who] tells her story of her son’s Crucifixion" and questions his death and divinity. After a 2011 Irish production, the play ran briefly on Broadway in 2013, closing after only two weeks of a scheduled 12-week run, but it was nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Play.

Background

Tóibín wrote in The New York Times that he began writing the play because he felt "almost a vacuum of faith in Ireland" in late 2008. He said "the impulse to write the play was not political, was not to intervene in a debate about the church, but rather to work with a voice that had mattered to me personally, a voice that was iconic as well as human." Further, he noted that he had "seen great performances in the Irish theater", which meant that "In their performances the act of utterance itself took on a sort of soaring nervous power."