Marble (paperback)

By Taylor Catalana

Publication Date: September 29, 2026

Marble is the feminist retelling of the life of the Virgin Mary, sharing her story before she became a mother.

Out on the edge of the Roman Empire, Maryam dreams of the world beyond her village, her solitude occasionally broken by a mysterious figure named Gabriel. But when Maryam’s father dies and leaves behind debts that his only child must pay in servitude, she is thrust into the heart of the treacherous royal court of King Herod the Great. Before long, a brutal act of jealousy and betrayal leaves Maryam alone in a country simmering with unrest.

When she sets out to salvage her future, she is jarred by the discovery that she will soon become a mother. Maryam must decide to take her life into her own hands, and nothing — not a princess, not an empire, not even an angel — will stop her from seeing her own will be done.

With luminous prose and page-turning storytelling, Marble gives voice to one of the most famous mothers, narrating an unforgettable and resounding story of feminine identity, strength, and choice.

Book Details:
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
Format: Paperback Original
Pages: 392
ISBN: 978-1-964403-09-0

Early Praise:

“With prose both earthy and elegant, Taylor Catalana describes Maryam's defiant struggle for independent thought and individual action. Marble, Catalana's stunning debut, gloriously reimagines the icon as a human, the symbol as a woman.” 
—Lauren J.A. Bear, author of Mother of Rome

“Some stories are so familiar that it seems impossible for an author to produce a fresh telling of the ages-old tale. Then along comes an author who breathes new life into an old story and turns it into something rich and new. Marble reimagines a life for one of the most famous women of all time. No mere passive vessel, Catalana's heroine triumphs over poverty and oppression, holds her own against earthly corruption, an angelic messenger, and against fate itself. Marble is an intensely compelling novel, hard to put down and leaving the reader craving more.”
—India Edghill, author of Queenmaker and A Tiger in the Garden