The Secret Magdalene (Paperback)

~ (Author) "It comes, at last, to this-I am changed from water to wine..." (more)
Key Phrases: salted sea, wondrous child, head cloth, John the Less, Simon Magus, Simon Peter (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Vermont novelist Longfellow (China Blues; Chasing Women) places Mary Magdalene at the center of the origin of Christian thought. As this vividly imagined novel opens, "Mariamne," the daughter of a wealthy Jewish aristocrat, is a gifted child with a love of learning who hears prophetic voices. Because privileged girls in Jerusalem are not raised to be scholars, Mariamne must indulge her passion in secret, accompanied by her slave, Tata, and her father's ward, Salome. Mariamne and Salome eventually run away to Alexandria, where they study in the great library, and into the wilderness, where Salome devotes herself to John the Baptizer. Meanwhile, Mariamne is drawn to Yeshu (Jesus), with whom she shares a brief earthly love and prolonged discussions of gnosis—the experience of direct personal insight into the divine. Together, they envision the events that lead to the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Reimagining such famous episodes as the healing of Lazarus, the wedding at Cana and Judas's betrayal, Longfellow sees Yeshu and his apostles from a feminist perspective. Longfellow (who first published this novel in 2005 at a small startup press named for Mariamne's donkey, Eio) is more passionate about research and philosophy than plot or character. Readers looking for a fast-paced thriller will be disappointed. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"...knew I would enjoy it from the first lines—which are wonderful!" -- Timothy Freke, co-author of The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Lost Goddess

"...writing among the best I've ever read... characterization superb... brilliant visual palette... thorough, dependable scholarship." -- Earl Doherty, author of The Jesus Puzzle

"Beautifully written, immaculately researched. Moved me to tears...if this isn't how it was, it's how it should have been." -- BookCrossing.com

"Has instantly become one of my favorite books about Mary Magdalene, and one of my favorite books in any catagory." -- Lesa Bellevie, founder of Magdalene.org, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mary Magdalene

"I find it hard to tear myself away, even to write this...a wonderful writer." -- Loretta Kemsley, President, Women Artists and Writers International, Publisher of MOONDANCE: Celebrating Creative Women.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 458 pages
• Publisher: Eio Books (March 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975925539
• ISBN-13: 978-0975925539
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,268,190 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

230 of 230 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one has everything, June 9, 2005

By	A Scholar and a Gentleman (Cambridge, Mass) - See all my reviews

While speaking of "The Gospel of John," Origen (who was a brilliant Egyptian philosopher and one of the greatest of the early Christian theologians) once wrote: "John does not always tell the truth literally. But John always tells the truth spiritually." Since Origen is long gone in body, I guess it's up to me to paraphrase him now, and say: "The Secret Magdalene does not always tell the truth literally. But The Secret Magdalene always tells the truth spiritually."

This is a book of profound understanding. Yes, there is the impressive scholarship. Yes, there is everything here...from the politics of the times (Romans, Greeks, Jews, Samaritans, Egyptians, Persians, Arab tribesmen--and just like now, they're all up to something, and very little of it any good), to the variations in dress (blond hair was in fashion, plucked from the heads of northern slaves), to the brisk trade in opium (rosh, opion: the best came through Crete and was used all over the Holy Land without a useless, not to say stupid, War On Drugs...which meant there were no Drug Lords and no drug runners and no vicious killings for the price of a fix...but I think I'm digressing here.) As I was saying, it's all here: myriad gods and goddesses which filled this long gone world with vivid color--as well as the usual all-too-human strife. (As in: My God can beat up your God.) And yes, the writing is wonderful for all the reasons writing can be wonderful. Like Nabokov, there is the delicacy of feeling. Like Austin, there is an acute eye for human character. Like Thomas Wolfe, there is lyricism. And like Dumas, there is just plain tearaway story telling. But Longfellow's understanding of her subject--which is "gnosis," beginning with a deep spiritual longing, an acute heart-filled desire to "know" God, and ending, if one so blesses oneself, with a direct face-off with God as Ultimate Consciousness--is unlike anything I've ever come across in my own search for truth, or meaning, or enlightenment, or just plain common sense. (I can't contain myself, must digress again. If I may, I'd like to bring us all the way back from Origen of one thousand eight hundred years ago to George Harrison and yesterday--"I really want to know you, I really want to go with you, and it takes so long I know, oh my Lord, my sweet Lord." Here's hoping George is playing a few licks with "ALL THERE IS" right this eternal minute. I'd give my left goolie to hear that concert.) In other words, The Secret Magdalene, through the totally absorbing story of the Magdalene herself (Mariamne Magdal-eder, a woman I would give my back teeth to know, then or now) is about the true nature of reality and our place in it. Now brothers and sisters, that's what lifts this book high above all others like it (are there any like it?) and makes it soar with MEANING.

Read this one. If you're like me and like so many others, all searching for something our religions no longer give us (if they ever did) and you can't be bothered with New Age hokum, plus! you'd love to get your nose into a good book and a brilliant read, here it is...waiting for you.

258 of 259 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magdalene.org endorses this book, May 18, 2005

By	Lesa Bellevie "Lesa Bellevie" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

216 of 216 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book of a Different Color, March 28, 2007

By	Dennis W. Allen (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Secret Magdalene: A Novel (Hardcover)

If you think this just another "religious" book, or something merely for questioning Christians, think again. If you think it is just another "Grail" attempt, wrong again. There is no Grail here. no bloodline, no claiming to be descended from anyone. This is a beautifully written work of spiritual depth and a search for real understanding. It uses the truth/myth of Mary Magdalene to explore questions we've been asking ourselves as humans for as long we could phrase a question at all. No creed is pushed here, nothing is required of us in this book but an open heart and an open mind. It's also a great read, a gripping adventure of mind, body, and spirit. I recommend it most highly.