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by Minerva Waters
The Magdalene Woman, by Margaret Rogers (St. Martin's Press, 1980)
This novel is told from the viewpoint of Mary Magdalene, the
daydreaming sister of Martha and Lazarus. Martha, the practical
one, is their mother's favourite who happily attends to the daily
household chores. Lazarus, though he yearns to be a scholar,
takes his place as the heir to their father's career as a merchant
and trader. Mary, in contrast, prefers to spend her time
daydreaming about roaming the nearby hills and valleys to escape
the noise and bustle of the household.
After a plague takes the lives of both their parents and Martha's
bethrothed, it is determined that the two girls must marry as soon
as may be to permit their brother to leave off his despised career
and go study in Jerusalem. Mary is to be sent to her uncle's, where
she will remain until her bethrothal to one of his neighbors. However,
in the intervening time, she spends her time exploring the area, and
is raped by a Roman and becomes pregnant. Before she can tell Martha,
she is bustled off to her uncle's, but escapes the group she is
travelling with. She seeks refuge in the home of a Samaritan woman in
exchange for a period of service with the woman after the baby is
born. Unfortunately, the child is stillborn, and Mary is slow to
recover.
In time she finally heals and discovers that the woman runs a brothel.
She expects Mary to work there, which she does reluctantly. Since she
does not attract many clients, the woman casts Mary forth from the
brothel. Mary then goes to Bethany to her uncle's house, only to find
that both her siblings have had ill fortune and are living on their
uncle's charity. Neither has married because rumours about Mary have
abounded and brought down their status as prospective mates.
Soon after her arrival, Mary hears that her childhood friend Josue
has been preaching against the orthodoxy and has gotten in trouble
with the Roman. He is soon arrested and executed, the execution being
witnessed by Mary, Josue's mother, and several other women. After
the Sabbath has passed, the women go to anoint the body only to
find it missing. Josue appears to Mary while she sits weeping and
tells her to take the other women and tell everyone what has happened.
They began to organize the first Christian communities immediately
after.
I felt that the novel's being told from a first-person viewpoint
made for a wonderful sense of immediacy. It seems almost as though
the reader is actually there to witness these events.
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