According to Mary Magdalene (Hardcover)

by Marianne Fredriksson (Author) "She heard him speaking in the marketplace in Antioch, the man called Simon, who came to be called Peter..." (more)
Key Phrases: old priestess, Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, Rabbi Amasya (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A top-selling author in her native Sweden and in Germany, Fredrikssen here departs dramatically from her recent contemporary fiction (Hanna's Daughters) to take on the foundation of Christianity, as told from the perspective of Mary Magdalene. Though this work proposes to represent the new subgenre of "visionary fiction"--novels with spirituality and metaphysics at the core--the story seems best slotted as historical or religious fiction. Full of keening biblical insurgency, the narrative has a decidedly feminist-revisionist ideology: Jesus respected women, and included women in his band of disciples. If only the male disciples had allowed women an equal voice, Christianity would not be as based on myth and law, but rather would focus on self-sufficiency and responsibility, reconciliation and forgiveness. Providing atmospheric background, Fredrikssen fascinates with the behind-the-scenes details of Mary's life: a flaxen-haired Jewish child, orphaned when Greek centurions kill her family, she is rescued by homosexual warrior Leonidas and raised in a house of pleasure. Mary grapples with the nature of Jesus' love in a time when Jew, Greek, Gnostic and Christian vie for understanding. For the uninitiated reader, following the story across the reinvented landscape of Christianity's first century may prove difficult, but for those well-versed in the Gospel it is a stimulating and serious conversation piece.

Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Fredriksson gives a human face to Jesus of Nazareth in this account told by the woman who was his apostle, closest companion, and?yes?bedmate. This Mary Magdalene is a teenaged, yellow-haired, blue-eyed Jewish whore?orphaned as a child when Roman soldiers brutally murdered her family?who meets Jesus walking in the mountains and teaches him carnal love. Years later, when Mary is in a companionable marriage to the Greek centurion who took her in as a child, she is courted by Simon Peter and Paul for her recollections of Jesus and finally records her own account. With the political and religious conflicts of the times as background, Fredriksson (Hanna's Daughters, LJ 7/98) portrays the later life and excruciating death of a loving, feminist Jesus whose teachings would be misinterpreted by the men around him. A lovely, revealing retelling of a powerful story, with an unfortunately weak ending. For larger collections.?Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing; 1st Am ed edition (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571741208
• ISBN-13: 978-1571741202
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,145,895 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Old stories through new eyes, October 28, 1999

By A Customer

reading books is a great way of spending the train rides to and from work. With this book the rides were to short however. The story of Mary of Magdala, remembering her encounter and life with Jesus is refreshing and inspiring. The birth of Christianity and the life of Jesus is portrayed in a new way, through the eyes of a troubled woman and intermingled with her problems in society and her life. My view of Jesus was very much refreshed, and his teachings retaught in the view of a woman apostle. Highly recommended!

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A strong woman, June 10, 1999

By A Customer

Mariannes books always have at least one powerful,wise woman as a frontfigure. In "Maria Magdalena" it happens to be Jesus girlfriend. Not a whore and not a saint. A woman. It's a fantastic story about how it might have been. She writes like it's a fairytale. In the end you love Jesus and you love Maria Magdalena.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Christianity according to a woman, August 5, 1999

By A Customer

I read this book a few months ago; my mother sent it to me from Sweden, as she always does with Marianne Fredriksson's new books. This book gives a new perspective to Christianity; told by a heroine who loves and trusts no matter what. It also uncovers the dangers of relaying on words, rather than feellings. In reading Mary Magdalene it is easy to beleive that men of the church have hid the greater meaning in Jesus' teachings from us. In the book Jesus' words all make sence and yet fit badly with what we are tought from the bible. Marianne Fredriksson's books have a mystical and magical sence of revealing an alternative truth; she will never thrust it upon you, but will give you another (or several) new ways of viewing life and love. This is not her best book, but that does not say a lot!!! Try Simon's family and Hanna's daughters as well. If you read in Swedish you must read 'Den som vandrar om natten....'which is also set in biblical time and absolutely wonderful.