Mary of Bellingham
Anneke Campbell
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2003 Jodere Group
ISBN: 1588720853

A modernday tale of human nature, faith & the possibilities of medical science.

& that doesn't tell the half of it! Enter Joseph Dupree, aging Black mail carrier with dreams of retiring to the Florida Keys, to a boat & all the fishing his heart can desire. Now, however, it's just before Christmas in Bellingham, Indiana where the snow is falling, it's bitterly cold, Holiday decorations are glowing, & right there, further up the street, is a blue egg walking along on matchstick legs.

When Joe drives up in his postal Jeep, he discovers the egg is really a very pregnant, bedraggled, lost teenager who doesn't speak. As he has done with the broken & abandoned cats & dogs in the neighborhood, he offers her a home.

After an awkward introduction to his little nest & his maimed menagerie, the soon-to-be-mother sinks onto his couch & the animals crowd around her. Slowly Joe communicates with the maiden, who finally indicates that her name is Mary. When he offers to take her to the local cafe where he works on weekends to save up for his boat, she eagerly follows him. & it is there that the story of Mary of Bellingham begins to spin out of control.

Because a skeptical Jewish reporter hears about her & writes a lurid column.
Because the Born-Again cafe owner, who has spun his salad days as a Hoosier basketball hero into a life of wealth & privilege, sees hope for his crippled son, as well as dollar signs flashing with the idea of the Second Coming.
& most of all, because Violet Wampler, the exotic waitress & Goddess devotee, takes Mary under her wing.

Violet is a fine figure of a single woman, a staunch Feminist with deep feelings about respect for life & tolerance. However, she has a twin sister, a mother & a grandmother who are filled with secrets, sour ideas & sourer opinions.

& then there's Dr. Bob -- a bored OB/GYN of Persian descent, divorced & father of two sorry kids. Dr. Bob has a serious case of burnout, & is not above manipulating his devoted head nurse. When he discovers that this shabby, pregnant maiden is in fact a virgin, he starts thinking of a fortune in DNA & cloning research. Will this be the first recorded case of parthonogenesis?

Of course, everyone knows Mary is underage. Soon parents of missing girls start showing up, one couple is deeply involved in the Rapture Movement. Soon people in need of miracles begin crowding around Violet's little home. Soon the police become involved.

& then, in the sky, a strange star is seen, & the UFO chasers get in the act.

Everyone who meets this young, mute, helpless woman has their agenda roundly disjointed by their expectations & their demons -- greed, judgementalism, pride, control & skepticism. Others discover their courage, identity, heart & soul.

Mary of Bellingham is a delight, & a thought-provoking read, raising Big Thoughts about virginity & immaculate conception, cloning & DNA manipulation, faith & morality, UFOs & alien invasions, religious sleights of hand & spiritual innocence, mental illness & emotional healing, being a child & growing up.

Anneke Campbell's years as a midwife stand her in good stead as I have not read before such a thrilling description of the hard labor & serenity, the healing & miracle of a natural birth.

Mary of Bellingham is a must read for anyone expecting a child -- woman or man -- teenager or adult. It is pregnant with passion, humor, fear & redemption. Everyone is real -- warts, greed, infidelity, yearnings, religious fervor, questionings & all.

I gladly give this first effort by Anneke Campbell 4 flavorful teapots with this caveat: The edition I read was fraught with errors, as if the uncorrected proof galley had been used in the printing, rather than the final proof.
(07/04/04)

Rebecca