The True Picture

by Alison Habens

First century Phoenicia, land of purple. A successful businesswoman abandons the dye trade and her glamorous lifestyle to walk with madmen, artists, a magus’ apprentice, devotees and thieves as she follows a charismatic healer to Jerusalem.

She can give up her jewellery and towering hairdo but can she wash clean the secret stain of her previous career as a dancer in the temple of Venus? The answer comes with an indelible gift that will leave its mark on her and her friends forever…

Though some say St Veronica may not really have existed, these pages tell her surprising and inspiring tale of real transformation. The True Picture is an intoxicating mix of historical fact with colourful fiction.

This novel is a new work for 2021, heavily reworked, revised and rewritten, which replaces the previous title of the same name from 2015.

262 pages, Paperback

Published April 4, 2021

About the author

Alison Habens is best known for Dreamhouse, a 1990s cult novel based on Alice in Wonderland. The book has its own ‘coming of age’ alongside Lewis Carroll’s centenary this year; and there’ll be a giveaway of pristine first editions on Goodreads.
Alison has written pretty much every day since it was published, with two further novels, Lifestory and Family Outing available, and lots of short stories, articles, poems and plays to see on alisonhabens.com.
Her new novel is a quirky retelling of the St Veronica myth, The True Picture. See thetruepicture.co.uk.
Alison is a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Portsmouth, and has a PhD on the subject of ‘divine inspiration’ in literature. She lives in an old church on the Isle of Wight and commutes to work by hovercraft.

Reviews

[Helen the Bassist · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5* really
I really wanted to totally love this book and did quite enjoy it. It was interesting to discover that The True Picture in its current form is a re-write of a previous version because I'd probably push for another tweak or two.

The story does however benefit greatly from a feisty heroine, whose name actually means The True Picture, and who is based on the minute information known / believed about Saint Veronica (who passed Christ a veil with which to wipe His face on the way to Calvary). The book's publication date (12th July 2021) coincided with St. Veronica's feast day which was a nice touch.

Some of the best aspects of TTP are found in the myriad of Roman, Phoenician and Judean characters Veronica, a purveyor of purple dye, her sister Publia and the men of her family meet and befriend as, one by one, they give up everything they have to follow a Galileean prophet around the ancient holy land.

Habens actually does a very good job of attempting to portray the impact Jesus has on his following, especially on this ragtag bunch of entitled gentiles...each of them feeling individually known, understood, loved to such a supernatural extent that they risk life and limb and their former, comfortable existences for hardship on the road, often at the back of the crowd, merely to be near Jesus, to hear Him, to be seen through His eyes.

Unfortunately there were some minor irritants in the language (nothing to do with the smattering of Latin) that meant I found it all too easy to be distracted by other books.
These may not affect you in the slightest and I certainly recommend this as an interesting piece of historical fiction.

I do however have to ask the question which came straight to mind when I first read the blurb...what about Saint Lydia Purpuraria? 🤔

[William Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book with a quest will always interest me. This really sweeps us into the main character's world, as she's drawn into an exhilarating, tumbling, obsessive world of belief, hope, change and redemption.

The language is wonderful: playful, knowing, poetic, ribald by turns. We're thrown into an immaculately researched world of cross-pollinating cultures, Rome, Greece, Egypt, Judaea, with influences from further afield and longer ago. It's also a family drama, pitching the yearning for a quiet life against that ache for the extraordinary.

You don't need to be interested in history or religion to enjoy the character's ups and downs, her pains and exaltations; but if you like to be feel immersed in the moment of history being created, this is full of insight into ancient worlds that we're normally told about dispassionately.

An enriching book of passions personal and societal.

[Ursula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I was keen to read it because the story behind one of the Stations of the Cross always fascinated me. At the age of nine I chose Veronica as my confirmation name. The Veronica in True Picture is very unlike the insipid person I thought I knew about and was much too young to understand as a child. Although everything about this person in the novel comes from the writer's imagination, she will be Veronica to me for evermore. I'll keep this book on my 'to be re-read' shelf.

The pace is great, not too fast or slow. We see all the action through Veronica's eyes and the timeline is straightforward. Many of the characters are relatable and likable. Alison Habens tackles all sorts of issues head on; meeting Jesus Christ, miracles, sexual attraction, mental instability, feelings of self-worth, a variety of religious beliefs, economic independence, friendships. It's a rich mixture and many things are alien to a 21st century IT worker. But the settings and everyday concerns, the food and clothes, even the colours all spring to life.

The language really grabbed my attention. The dialogue is everyday English with no archaic turns of phrase to indicate the setting is 2000 years ago. The concepts are a wonderful mixture of such things as Veronica's concerns as a previous temple dancer or business developments in the dye industry expressed using modern colloquial English. An example didn't spring to mind but consider "surface clutter", "in the picture", "mansplaining", "accessorise", "grab a couple of handfuls". The narrative voice and dialogue are vivid and familiar.

[Mrs A & Mr R Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book and it didn’t disappoint. During the first chapter I was worried about the modern language the author used to tell a story from ancient time but I have to say it worked very well. The book tells the tale of a young Roman lady, Veronica, who lived in the time of Jesus Christ. After her sister, Publia, was healed by Christ of her constant bleeding, Veronica and Publia converted to Christianity, gave up their previous life and became followers of Jesus - literally joining the crowd that followed Jesus in his travels which culminated in the crucifixion. It was a fascinating tale, told brilliantly, and I found it hard to put down. Very little is known today about St Veronica, but the author has created a riveting story around her and I loved it. 5* from me.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veronica, a skilled seller of purple fabric and dye and a masterful songstress witnesses her sister being healed by Jesus. Completely enthralled by this magic, first Publia (the sister) then Veronica abandon their lives and follow him on his pilgrimage. Gritty and sometimes jarring in its modern graphic vocabulary, Habens manages to weave the traditional story of the coming of Jesus with a tale of Veronicas experience on her journey. We watch her mature as she leaves behind the trappings of Roman life and all it’s luxury for the more modest world that Jesus inhabits and requires from his disciples.
Though I sometimes found the choice of vocabulary and terminology uncomfortable within the traditional fable being told it is clear that Habens did this with purpose. I’m just not sure it always worked for me. Otherwise enjoyed thoroughly and worth falling in to.

[Helen Salsbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully researched vivid retelling of a story I thought was familiar when I set out. The author has made it unfamiliar and vibrantly new, with a fabulous and chaotic band of characters.

There is a real energy to this story telling, which is both rooted in its cultural setting (temples and gods, Roman baths, a purple dye worth a fortune) and told with a contemporary lightness and deftness of touch. There's a sense of road trip and more than a hint of picaresque. There's a bawdy wit. And there's so much more! The exquisite detail, the sense of community, the experience of different cultures meeting each other, and the building narrative - all provided one of the most vivid historical reading experiences I've had.

Highly recommended.

[K G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Catholic, I heartily enjoyed reading this book. It depicts the life of Veronica as is true of all saints: a fellow human being, with sins, mistakes, temptations, and the inevitable burning of love when one comes to the encounter of Jesus, who, far from rejecting us, embraces us, and it is that love and embrace which is capable of pulling our hearts toward Him, and away from sin and our wrong ways.
The story is well constructed, with language, historical setting, and events matching very well the story setting.
This is not a very "popular" novel genre, but one that has a profound effect on everyone that reads it.
Thank you for a great book, looking forward to more stories like this!

[Dawn Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my usual genre of book but I must admit I really enjoyed it. Took me to an ancient time of the Roman Empire

[Beccy Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous read set in the Roman period
The book has a quest at the heart of it and who doesn’t love a quest?
Well written with plenty of descriptive language and a clever plot

[Matt Wingett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extaordinary book. The life of the central character, Veronica, a Roman living in the city of Tyre and selling purple dye to Roman officials is caught with brilliant humour and detail, as does her strange Odyssey that begins when she meets a healer whose charisma bowls her over. Following him to Jerusalem, Veronica gets into scrapes and makes powerful friendships - and all the while she is changing from the inside.

I love this book. It's funny, moving, rich in detail and makes you really think this may have been the story of the mythical Saint Veronica.

It's gorgeous, and I hope you love it as much as I do. Btw, I'm an atheist, so this religious story has to have a high level of literary quality to really punch through. And it most certainly does!