Anna, Woman of Miracles: The Story of the Grandmother of Jesus

ANNA WOMAN OF MIRACLES takes place between the years 43 B.C. to about 12 A.D. The authors follow the traditional legend and then build a story where Anna is a mystical healer and a member of the Essenes religious sect. She marries three different times and has several daughters and names each one Mary. The authors also give Anna, a life long friendship with Julian; a Roman official who often helps her during troubled times.

This book has two authors. Vivian Van Vick, the original author was a scholar and teacher. According to the book's introduction, "She spent five years researching Saint Anne's life in German, French and Latin documents, and in translations from the Aramaic. She originally planned to write a biography, but quickly learned that Saint Anne's story is mostly legendary, and even contradictory at points, though much of the legend is supported by renowned religious paintings in Europe."

Carol Haenni, the co-author states that, "I have been a student of the material in the psychic "readings" of the Christian mystic, Edgar Cayce for more than twenty-five years." She goes on to say that she knew the story and wove the Cayce readings, and gleanings from other sources into the novel. The scene of the angel appearing to Mary was taken from the "visions of Ann Emmerich, a German nun who died in 1824."

I thought that the book was intriguing and the authors were very respectful in the way the material was presented. The writing was a little simplistic and at times, seemed to be aimed at younger readers. I also found parts of the story very unbelievable; however, the historic research was good and gave the story a rich feeling. I had a sense of what the culture and life would be like for a Jewish woman who was living at that time in history.


Disappointment   May 15, 2003
 22 out of 26 found this review helpful

The first disappointment for this book was the simplistic diaglogue. It is written, roughly, on a 7th grade grammer level

It is a sweet story, but shallow. Then I picked up Anna, Grandmother of Jesus by Heartsong. There is no comparison for depth and content. There are several appendix & resource information in this second book. If you want more than a sweet story read the other book.