The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene [Paperback]

Michele Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2007

"An assured tour de force of passion. The power with which it reclaims spiritual and sexual strength for women cannot be ignored."—Time Out London

In the parched soil of Provence, a fifth gospel has been discovered: Mary Magdalene's account of Jesus' teachings and her vital relationship with him. It is a book of revelation, for it unveils a new Christianity, one that embraces the female equally with the male and acknowledges-and celebrates-the spirituality of women. It is also a passionate story of love and loss, of separation and rebirth, centered on the Magdalene as the wellspring of womanhood.

In this dramatic tale Michele Roberts offers a brilliant and moving vision of Jesus that is also startlingly modern in its conclusions. Perhaps most importantly, it confirms her stature as one of the most talented and exciting writers of her generation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Inspired by the Nag Hammadi gospels, Roberts (Reader, I Married Him) has imagined a Gnostic gospel according to Mary Magdalene. Her Mary is a composite of three women mentioned in the biblical gospels, and she tells many of the same stories, albeit from a different perspective, as do the canonical gospel writers. In particular, a number of the miracles recorded in the Bible appear in this novel, and Roberts's intriguing take on these events follows no boring or predictable pattern. The Jesus of this novel is a genial, nonjudgmental sort who preaches inscrutable homilies, and happily keeps company with the excessively abstemious Simon Peter as well some more sexually liberated followers. While Roberts's Jesus and Mary both express some powerful ideas about the feminine aspect of God, the unity of the spiritual and the physical, and the legitimacy of ecstatic, revelatory experience, the novel leaves readers befuddled as to what the alternative Christianity this Jesus preached would look like. Nonetheless, it does succeed to some extent as an exploration of what early Christian feminism may have looked like, and is perhaps strongest and most poignant at those moments when Jesus' closest female companions find themselves subtly but inexorably excluded from leadership in the early church.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Bold and moving.”
–Guardian

“By her rich use of symbols and metaphor she transforms feminist cliché into something alive and moving.”
–Times Literary Supplement --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Pegasus (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933648562
• ISBN-13: 978-1933648569
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,080,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dramatic vision of Christianity in which men's and women's spirituality are equally celebrated, February 2, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene (Paperback)

Award-winning author Michele Roberts presents The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene, an original novel about the discovery of a fifth gospel: Mary Magdalene's testimony of Jesus' teachings and her own relationship with him. A dramatic vision of Christianity in which men's and women's spirituality are equally celebrated, The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene is a passionate and moving chronicle of human faith that endures despite suffering and loss. An emotionally moving tale affirming Mary Magdalene's crucial role in the birth of Christianity.