The Secret Magdalene (2005 Longfellow), novel
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The Secret Magdalene (2005) is a novel by Ki Longfellow.
Abstract
"Raised like sisters, Mariamne and Salome are indulged with riches, position, and learning-a rare thing for females in Jerusalem. But Mariamne has a further gift: an illness has left her with visions; she has the power of prophecy. It is her prophesying that drives the two girls to flee to Egypt, where they study philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy in the Great Library of Alexandria. After seven years they return to a Judaea where many now believe John the Baptizer is the messiah. Salome too begins to believe, but Mariamne, now called Magdalene, is drawn to his cousin, Yeshu’a, a man touched by the divine in the same way she was during her days of illness. Together they speak of sharing their direct experience of God; but Yeshu’a unexpectedly gains a reputation as a healer, and as the ill and the troubled flock to him, he and Magdalene are forced to make a terrible decision. This radical retelling of the greatest story ever told brings Mary Magdalene to life-not as a prostitute or demon-possessed-but as an educated woman who was truly the “apostle to the apostles.”--Publisher description.
"Follows the life of Mary Magdalene, detailing her privileged childhood, her prophetic visions, her study in the Great Library of Alexandria, her fascination with John the Baptizer's cousin Yeshu'a, and her role as teacher and advisor to Jesus. The Author develops the character of Mary Magdalene as a philosopher through Mariamne Magdaleder’s personal narration of her quest to understand the gnosis that she experiences as a young child. She is not portrayed as a prostitute, priestess, the Bride of Christ nor the Holy Grail, but as an intellectual person in middle-upper class of first century Palestine, where she is revered for her astuteness. Longfellow has created his narrative by intertwining Mary's own personal experiences and imagination with the historical accounts and texts of the time, which questions traditional thought and explores a relationship of interest to many religious and non-religious people today." -- Danika Spake, University of Michigan
Editions
Published in New York, NY: 2005. Revised ed. 2007.
Translated into Spanish and Czech.