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The Secret Magdalene

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The Secret Magdalene

By: Ki Longfellow
Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
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About this listen

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.”

©2007 Ki Longfellow (P)2007 Books on Tape Fiction Historical Fiction Middle East

Critic Reviews

“Highly original and highly engaging, The Secret Magdalene is a sweeping yet intimate tale, an emotional and intellectual journey that questions everything, including the real nature of Jesus.” (India Edghill, author of Wisdom’s Daughter)

"Imaginative, well-researched, and full of profound wisdom, this wonderful novel brings the ancient world to life." (Timothy Freke, co-author of The Laughing Jesus)

"A beautiful book....the writing [is] compelling." (Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion at Princeton University and author of The Gnostic Gospels)

All stars
Most relevant  
The style, the imagination, the reimagining of a story with so many alternate versions already. The reader should have an interest in biblical history but probably not a conventional religious interest.

Just brilliant.

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