Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Ki Longfellow has achieved, in my opinion, the best Mary Magdalene novel ever written. She has left no trace of the weepy penitent, the sultry courtesan, or the harlot with a heart of gold. Gone are the demons, the groveling, and the superficial saintliness. The Magdalene that has replaced these tired old caricatures is complicated, robust, strong, tender, pensive, awkward, imaginative, and loving. In a word, Mary Magdalene is finally human. The Secret Magdalene brings the world of first century Palestine to life; a rich cultural milieu in which Greek philosophy mingles with Mosaic Law against a highly charged Hellenized backdrop. We follow the story of Mariamne (Mary Magdalene) from a pivotal event in her childhood through her education as a boy, eventually finding herself at a zealot outpost among those seeking a Messiah. While everyone points toward John the Baptist as the One, Mariamne finds herself drawn to his cousin, a red-haired Galilean named Yehoshua. In disguise as a young man named John the Less, Mariamne becomes Yehoshua's best friend and confidant. At about halfway through the book, this relationship is the beginning of a profound and insightful retelling of the Gospel story. Perhaps the greatest joy I found in this book aside from the powerful depiction of a realistic Mary Magdalene was Longfellow's deft ability to convey so much information about the ideas that form the foundation of gnosis, the driving concept behind classical Gnosticism. But so talented is the author that her efforts to educate us are transparent; we learn along with the characters, and because the plot flows so smoothly, the pages seem to just turn themselves. Unlike other books about Mary Magdalene that attempt to convey some larger message, this does NOT read like a dry, preachy tome. It's a literary and philosophical treasure that will be savored by the spiritual seeker and casual reader alike.