Mary, Called Magdalene
by Margaret George
Mary, Called Magdalene unfolds a lot of interesting details about life in the days that Jesus walked the earth, and does a good deal of speculation about what Jesus' personal relationships might have looked like. It takes a very contemporary perspective of gender politics, though, and that probably does not go over well with a lot of readers of Christian fiction. For me, I enjoyed reading the book and at least considering the ideas it presents. As far as I can see, it is always good to consider an old story from a new perspective, even if it is a perspective one does not choose to hold onto very tightly.
The only real complaint I have about the book is that there are times that gender politics seem to overshadow the story itself. I have less problem, in fact, with the stands taken than in the prominent place they are given in the telling of the story. It gets more than a little intrusive. And that is too bad, because the book is quite well written, and the story is very compellingly told.
Reviewed by Shelly Bryant 2009
From goodreads review: Mary, Called Magdalene
While this is a fascinating book in terms of the historical details of daily life in the first century, I have to disagree with the review in Publisher's Weekly which states that it "imagines nothing seriously objectionable to even the most devout Christians." That isn't true if one counts Catholics as "devout Christians".
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