by Lesa Bellevie

The Secret Magdalene , by Ki Longfellow (Eio Books, 2005)

To date, a few authors have taken up the challenge of portraying the "Gnostic" Mary Magdalene in a 1st century historical novel. Although all of them have positive points, none of them have left me feeling satisfied. That changed with The Secret Magdalene, a novel by Ki Longfellow that did what few books about Mary Magdalene are able to do: it surprised me. It surprised me to such a degree, in fact, that I couldn't put it down. As a voracious reader, I've frequently joked that I consume books for breakfast, but in this one instance, I feel instead that the book consumed me. It is a particular joy to be writing such a whole-hearted recommendation for this title.

The story begins when Mariamne is ten years old and has just recovered from a mysterious illness that leaves her with a prophesying voice not her own. Wealthy and idle, she and her adopted sister, Salome, dabble in the occult arts in the house of their Sadducee father, Josephus of Arimathaea. Together they fantasize about leading lives of adventure and mystery, traveling to Egypt and becoming famous sorceresses. Found out by one of their father's friends, the girls are introduced as prophets to a Messianic subculture filled with numerous sects all seeking the One who will come and save them. When Mariamne and Salome are discovered leaving their house late one night for a meeting with these people, they are cast out by their father. At the tender age of twelve, Mariamne is adopted by a philosopher who raises her and Salome as boys, educates them and gives them the freedom to pursue their own interests.

Living in a zealot fort called "the Wilderness" that is, in effect, a waystation for every Messianic sect passing through the region, Mariamne and Salome grow up against a backdrop of wildly diverse religious ideas strongly influenced by their mentor's passion for Socrates. As an adult, Salome chooses to follow John the Baptist, believing him to be the Messiah, and Mariamne finds herself without a purpose. That changes when she meets Yehoshua of Galilee, who leads a sizable clan in support of his cousin, the Baptist. There is something special about him, and in the guise of a young man named John the Less, Mariamne becomes Yehoshua's best friend and confidant.

All of this sets the stage for a wildly new interpretation of Jesus' ministry in Galilee and Judea, or perhaps if you are already a student of classical Gnosticism, you will see this as a very old interpretation of his ministry. Jesus comes not to introduce himself as the Son of God in the typical Roman Catholic sense of the term, but as a revealer of the truth that we are all Sons of God. In fact, one of the most remarkable things about The Secret Magdalene is that it sifts through classical Greek philosophy, early Christian texts and Gnostic literature and fuses them together into an entirely feasible world. Mariamne Magdal-eder is dropped into the middle as a woman who "has become male," who becomes the disciple most loved by Jesus, and who has a pivotal role in the foundation of Christianity itself.

Longfellow's characters are well developed, her plot and subplots are compelling, and all is told with a reverent observation of what it means to be human. The book is blissfully free of pretentions and weird "I'm very powerful and wise" kinds of affectations --a refreshing experience in Mary Magdalene fiction-- and filled instead with the joys and sorrows of a young woman trying to find her true self. There are moments of triumph and moments of humility, and for this rich complexity, I loved Longfellow's version of "the greatest story ever told." This book is a literary rarity by which all future novels about Gnosticism should be measured. In addition, I can only hope that it heralds an emerging hybrid perspective in the modern Magdalene movement.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you are interested at all in Gnosticism and early Christianity or in the many views of Mary Magdalene, this is definitely not a book to be missed. Not only has it instantly become one of my favorite books about Mary Magdalene, it has become one of my favorite books in any category.