Poisoned Honey: A Story of Mary Magdalene

by Beatrice Gormley

This story begins with Mariamne, a vulnerable girl who knows little of the ways of the world. Much as she wants to be in control of her own destiny, she soon learns she has no such power. She must do as her father and brother see fit, and when tragedy strikes, Mari must marry a man she does not love and enter a household where she is not welcome, for the good of her family.

But she finds a small way to comfort herself when she meets an Egyptian wisewoman who instructs her in the ways of the occult arts. In the spirit world, Mari finds she has power. Here, she really is in control of her fate. But is she? Or is the magic controlling her ?

This gripping portrait of one of the most misunderstood and controversial Biblical figures is the story of a young girl’s path through manipulation and possession, madness and healing, to a man who will change the world forever.

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Historical, Biblical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Born in Glendale, California, Beatrice grew up in Southern California. After graduating from Pomona College, she worked in publishing near San Francisco. There she met and married Robert Gormley, and they moved to Massachusetts. They have two daughters.
Since age 9 Beatrice had wanted to become a writer. But it wasn't until after her children were born that she really focused on her writing. In 1981 her first book, Mail Order Wings,was published. Since then she's written many popular novels and biographies for young people. Her most recent books are Second Lives, a novel of humans and other animals, and the biography Joe Biden: Our 46th President.

Reviews

[Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another imagining of the life of Mary Magdalene. This one really delved into the implications of demons/magic, and also dealt a lot with marriages, but that was interesting to see, especially because the magic could still be explained away with natural causes. Natural causes and a lot of coincidences. Either way, it was really, really scary at times.

Also, Jesus was completely adorable. Whenever he was in the scene, i was grinning like an idiot. What I mean here is: Jesus was extremely well-written.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the title - it suggests something has gone wrong in the land of milk and honey.


Poor Mary Magdalene.

For centuries, she’s been the punch line of dirty jokes, a name that brings a knowing smirk to the amateur theologian lips, or a rude wink from the Catholic artist.

Here, Gormley examines a possible background to the Magdalene before all myths and legends and 6th century versions of bathroom stall ‘for a good time’ graffiti started.

We meet the very human Miriam as a young girl, an ordinary middle class girl of the place and time, whose family is in the sardine packing business, of all things, a profession that, at least I felt, manages to make the character seem that much more down to earth.

Young Miriam definitely has a different way of looking at the world. Part of it is an intelligent person trapped in a pre-modern world, part of it is I-am-a-teenager-and-no-understands-my-angst, and the other part is up to the reader; either she talked with angels and demons (Brown pun intended), or she was schizophrenic and in desperate need of thorazine.

The book reminded me a lot of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden I thought Miriam had a mental disorder the whole time I was reading and it wasn’t until after I finished did it ever occur to me that the people she was talking to in her head might have been real.

Either way, Gormley did her homework on the multiple religions of the time period. I thought it was hilarious that the woman peddling all the trappings of the counter cultures Da Vinci Code fans and neo-pagans get so excited about turns out to be a fraud. Which is probably where a lot of it could have come from – which actually might be where a lot of religions come from. And the fact that she gets to scoff “the devil made me do it” line was great.

Anyway, after either the demons or psychosis gets a hold of Miriam, her descent into madness is horrifying fast, a wild ride she jumps on, encouraging it because her visions are so much better than her crappy real life – very Walter Mitty, but with ancient gods. The crowning scene was great - a little girl playing dress up and not realizing she’s playing with a loaded gun. That scene would work best on film, especially if you went with the ‘she’s-crazy’ school of thought and used it to show a mental break in Technicolor with rock music.

Meanwhile, the story occasionally switches POV to the soon-to-be apostle Matthew, showing how he went from a tax collector to a saint. He’s a highly sympathetic character and you can see why he would jump feet first into the counter-culture movement this young rabbi Yeshua bar Yosef is starting.

The rabbi is human – there’s even scenes where he doesn’t know everything. No mention of divine fatherhood or chosen destiny. He laughs, he jokes, he dances! However, he does acknowledge to Miriam that he knows he has strong leadership qualities – he knows if so much as whistled he could call up an army in a day and be a new Caesar. But he’s not going to, because he gets it that power corrupts.

We meet the other disciples. All of the later myths-politics-dust-age-bias-etc is stripped away and we see a group of idealistic college kids sitting around talking about how to make the world a better place. As they wander around you half expect them to arrive at Woodstock. (Seriously, I want this to be a movie so I can buy the soundtrack. Who says you can’t have 20th century music in a 1st century story?)

Judas only gets one line, and its fairly ominous – but he seems to have the same problem as most of the others in the band – they want their leader to love them best, and here is where we see Miriam got her title of ‘apostle-to-the-apostles’ as she tried to get the group from fragmenting – an anti-Yoko. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist a Beatles joke). Yeshua calls Miriam his sister, and that perfectly describes their relationship – like everything else that gets tacked on in later centuries, the sex is very much stripped out. It was very much like Saint Francis and Saint Claire in 'Brother Sun, Sister Moon.'

The last section tries to end on a happy note, but its nothing but really heavy foreshadowing. Miriam is sane and happy to be embracing something she feels is bringing good to the world, but its so hard to read without wincing as she talks about the Passover dinner they’re planning...

[Paige (Arya) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poisoned Honey by Beatrice Gormley 5 of 5 stars.

Mariamne is a vulnerable girl living in a time when women were put down and looked upon as barely better than children or slaves. Mariamne watches her life fall to pieces as one event after the other pushes her closer to a precipice where the fall is long and dark. As a child Mariamne saw visions, going so far as to believe she could fly only to find herself tumbling down a flight of stairs. She sees visions still, but as more and more people try to convince her that she has an overactive imagination and should push such thoughts aside she turns to a different way of escape. With the help of an Egyptian wise-woman Mariamne learns a way into a secret garden, one that exists outside of the seen-world. But Mariamne makes a tragic mistake by trusting the place and the creatures that dwell in it, going so far as to bring the demons through with her. Mariamne teeters on the edge of that frightening precipice as she comes to realize that she is possessed by these demons and knows not how to free herself of them.

Poisoned Honey is the tale of a woman many of us know as Mary Magdalene. Very little is known about her, though much is speculated, and Beatrice Gormley is here to tell us, in her wonderfully straight-forward prose what she imagines Mary Magdalene's life to have been like.

When I first read the summary for this book I was quite intrigued. Many YA authors have tried to unravel the young lives of famous women in Greek and Egyptian mythologies, but I haven't seen many try and tackle the life of a Christian character. Because of this, I thought Gormley's book might be a bit controversial and wanted to get a look at it myself. The beginning is a bit slow as it sets up the time period, but is well written and interesting nonetheless. As the story unfolds we begin to recognize many of the well known Christian characters (despite the fact that many of the names are variations away from what most of us have heard) in a way that is far different, but still characteristic and respectable. The portrayal of Jesus, Mary, and Matthew are all wonderful. This truly isn't what I expected at all. It’s touching and deep and doesn't delve to far away from the core beliefs of Christians to be considered blasphemous. At the same time, it’s told so differently that I believe anyone of any faith would enjoy it without being offended.

I honestly can't tell you how glad I am that I read this book, and I would recommend it to anyone!

A special thanks to BookDivas for sending me a copy to review!

Review by Arya @ A Sea of Pages (http://seaofpages.blogspot.com) <<

[T · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit slow going in the beginning - not to mention the author's annoying decision to put aside comments in unnecessary parentheses - but it gradually picked up stem about 150 pages in.

The author also told this story from the POV of Mary and interspersed chapters, told in the 3rd person, that filled in the story of Matthew. A bit of a jarring narrative device but the stories of the 2 eventual disciples eventually crossed paths.

A bit pedestrian and a bit elementary. Probably best for middle school age through 9th or 10th grade. If you're looking for a book similar in vein to this that is better written and for older teens and adults, check out The Book Of Rachael.

I had thought about reading the author's other book, Salome, but am currently re-thinking this...

[Dark Faerie Tales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: A realistic, and therefore, somewhat sad story of what the author perceives to be a good explanation of what Mary’s day-to-day life and major experiences may have been like, starting in adolescence and moving through to a more refreshing conclusion, perhaps to where the story would begin in the Bible.

Opening Sentence: I was possessed.

The Review:

Marianme, also called Mari, lives in a time period where, as we know, everything was controlled by men. Women were just tools to be used, and were expected to act as such. Women did all the work of the household and lived to serve men, whether their fathers, their husbands, or, even their brothers. Beatrice Gormley, the author, does a most excellent job of describing not only what day-to-day drudgery this equated to, but how trapped and desperate a woman like Mari would feel, with such slim chances that she would be able to live a happy life, with people who love her and she loves in return.

Gormley builds up Mari’s character exquisitely. She definitely had an exact point she wanted to get across in this book and I think she was able to do that. The narrative makes sense, as do the characters. The characters do not just make decisions on a whim, they are a distressed people and are dealing so much with life and death situations that they have little left for things like true love. They have dreams, but must often give them up for the good of their family, which Mari ultimately ends up doing.

It really is no surprise when the despicable life Mari is thrust into drives her ultimately to the point of madness. Overall, her story is a depressing one, and most hope is lost that she will be able to recover. The few people that she could trust have been driven away from fear that she is just too much of a risk. Gormley times the book just right, to show that Mari begins as a pretty regular girl, with pretty regular dreams, but with an extra gift, shown to come from her father, that can either be a great blessing when she has the freedom to use it correctly, or a great curse without her even realizing the difference. When she tries to follow her heart, she is rejected at every turn, even by those who love her, and so she ends up using it for selfish purposes instead. When she finally has the experience and wisdom to overcome the evil, she becomes a more powerful woman than even she could imagine.

Although Mari is definitely the main character, Gormley alternately gives the view from a man’s perspective as well, however, not just any ordinary man. Matthew, as a tax collector, portrays that although men have more control than the women, they are still driven by their opportunities and circumstances. Birth, religion, class and social standing, and business all play a role in decision making as well, and although Matthew’s heart tells him one thing, he often listens to his head, knowing that any illogical risk could have deadly circumstances. As Gormley walks through Matthew’s decision-making process, it becomes understandable why good people still often make bad choices.

Although most of the book shows the difficult journey of survival through less than ideal circumstances, there begins to be hope when the brother that originally surrendered Mari’s happiness to save the family’s business takes pity on her in her completely despicable state and takes her to the rabbi Yeshua. This is really where the whole story becomes worth reading, when brotherly love is justly shown, especially by those with imperfect faith. Although parts of the book are hard to read, not because they are ill written, but because the pain and hopelessness are so apparent, only someone who knows what true unhappiness is would risk everything to have true happiness.

Notable Scene:

In the following days, I was glad for the sparrow’s company, and I quickly got to depend on it. One morning, I came down the stairs chatting out loud with Tsippor, thinking the courtyard was empty. Suddenly I realized that Chava was standing there in the shade, watching me.

She didn’t seem disturbed, and she didn’t say anything, but the incident made me remember Ramla’s warning about letting spirits follow me into our world: They can do all kinds of mischief. Probably Ramla didn’t mean a harmless spirit like the sparrow, but maybe I needed to ask her.

By that afternoon, I’d decided to go tell Ramla about the sparrow spirit and ask her advice. On my way to Susannah’s house, though, I kept changing my mind. What if Ramla urged me to banish the sparrow, even from my private garden? He was an old friend. These days, I didn’t have such a great crowd of friends that I could afford to lose one.

FTC Advisory: Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House provided me with a copy of Poisoned Honey: A Story of Mary Magdalene. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[Judith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like so many other authors, Beatrice Gormley tries to put a background to one of the most controversial Biblical characters ever: Mary Magdalena. In Poisoned Honey, Mariamne is a young girl of fourteen, who is learning that life can deal some cruel twists of fate at times. Mari quickly learns that she has no voice and her life is determined by the men in her family. Forced into an arranged marriage with an older man by her conniving brother and uncle, Mari learns to escapes the hardships of her grueling marriage and overbearing stepdaughter-in-law, by dappling in occult arts. It is her experimental ways in this black magic that unleash demons onto Mari’s soul and cause her to do murderous and treacherous acts. Poisoned Honey follows the path of Mari as she slides deeper into a crazed world and her attempts to redeem herself.
This young adult novel starts out quite slow and then becomes slightly confusing. Gormley’s attempt to showcase the demons controlling Mari was not convincing enough to me. The only surprising aspect of this novel was how Mari, or whoever was controlling her, decides to deal with her gruesome husband. It was easy to predict that Mari’s marriage would end, but the circumstances surrounding the end of her marriage were definitely surprising. It would have been interesting to see how Mari dealt with her new marriage and life, without becoming possessed by demons. Another aspect that is not explored is James. Though Gromley does devote several chapters to James, I wish Gormley would have focused more on James, whose life was interconnected with Mari’s. Gormley’s depiction of James’ story was more interesting than demon-possessed Mari.
The cover of this book was quite misleading. At a quick glance, the color scheme of purple and off-white and the blowing veil gave the illusion that this book was a tawdry romance novel. Upon studying the cover, I clearly saw the young Mari looking upward through the veil. Whether or not the publishers intended for this cover to be mistaken for a romance novel is unknown to me.
I will give Gormley credit for attempting to create a new story for Mary Magdalena. It was also nice to see how the author addressed the issue of Mary Magdalena being a prostitute, which is often how she is portrayed. The author deals with this misconception in one quick sentence and that was it. If the reader is able to get passed the first fifty or so pages of Gormley’s mundane explanations of the characters and settings, then they might actually be able to finish the novel. Gormley does try to put a new spin on an old story and her attempt is quite refreshing, just not executed that well.

[Deba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis
Beatrice Gormley's fascinating depiction of Mary Magdalene as a young woman in search of faith and some control over her own life is gripping and imaginative. At 13, Mariamne is forced into an unwanted marriage for the sake of her family. Hoping that she'll be able to continue on the spiritual path introduced to her by a wisewoman, Mari delves deeply into a world that soon becomes overwhelming and out of control. Only one man can save her, changing the course of her life forever.
Publisher Notes
Relates events from the life of a girl who would grow up to be a close follower of Jesus Christ, interspersed with stories of the Apostle Matthew. Includes author's note distinguishing what Scripture says of Mary Magdalene from later traditions.
Industry Reviews
"Gormley creates a memorable portrait of this famous but often misunderstood character, along with compelling characterizations of Matthew the tax collector and Jesus, making this book an important contribution to the genre of biblically based fiction."
(02/22/2010)
By: Arya S., Book Diva Reviewer
Mariamne is a vulnerable girl living in a time when women were put down and looked upon as barely better than children or slaves. Mariamne watches her life fall to pieces as one event after the other pushes her closer to a precipice where the fall is long and dark. As a child Mariamne saw visions, going so far as to believe she could fly only to find herself tumbling down a flight of stairs. She sees visions still, but as more and more people try to convince her that she has an overactive imagination and should push such thoughts aside she turns to a different way of escape. With the help of an Egyptian wise-woman Mariamne learns a way into a secret garden, one that exists outside of the seen-world. But Mariamne makes a tragic mistake by trusting the place and the creatures that dwell in it, going so far as to bring the demons through with her. Mariamne teeters on the edge of that frightening precipice as she comes to realize that she is possessed by these demons and knows not how to free herself of them. Poisoned Honey is the tale of a woman many of us know as Mary Magdalene. Very little is known about her, though much is speculated, and Beatrice Gormley is here to tell us, in her wonderfully straight-forward prose what she imagines Mary Magdalene's life to have been like.
Debra's comments:
Although written for the younger generation, I enjoyed the book - highly recommened

[Bethany Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book imagines the adolescence of Mary Magdalene. From a very young age, Mariamne has a special connection with the spiritual world. She sometimes sees things with the “eyes of her soul” and listens with the “ears of her soul.” When the time comes for Mari to get married, her father finds a match that he knows she will be pleased with; however, before the marriage takes place both her father and fiancé are killed by the Tishri fever. Mari’s brother Alexandros becomes the head of the family and decides to marry her off quickly in order to help take care of the debts left by their father. Mari is wed to Eleazar, a man old enough to be her grandfather, and begins a life of misery and heartache. Then Mari meets Ramla, an Egyptian wise woman who teaches her how to enter a special realm, which Mari calls her garden. At first, escaping to her garden is a great comfort for Mari, but then the residents of the garden begin following her back inhabiting her mind in the real world. Mari’s husband takes ill and dies, and she goes to live with her cousin Susannah, where it becomes increasingly clear that Mari is not in her right mind. When she almost kills Susannah’s daughter, she is kicked out of her cousin’s house. Her brother takes her to meet Rabbi Yeshua (Jesus), who is able to cleanse her of the evil spirits that possessed her, and she decides to spend her life following him.


Though the book had an interesting premise, ultimately Poisoned Honey was disappointing. Mari’s story is compelling; however, her descent into madness (or possession by demons) was not described in a way that was believable. The novel is written from the first person point of view of Mari, but even with that insight it is difficult to tell how she is feeling about what is happening to her. There are multiple demons with distinct personalities all living within her head and acting out through her body. Mari’s struggle with the demons is futile until her brother takes her to be exorcised by Rabbi Yeshua; he is able to quickly expel the demons from her body, and she is immediately filled with a sense of peace. This quick and extreme turnaround just wasn’t convincing. Though the story had promise, in the end it fell flat. Recommended as an optional purchase in libraries where Biblical fiction is popular.

[Homewood Public Library · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like so many other authors, Beatrice Gormley tries to put a background to one of the most controversial Biblical characters ever: Mary Magdalena. In Poisoned Honey, Mariamne is a young girl of fourteen, who is learning that life can deal some cruel twists of fate at times. Mari quickly learns that she has no voice and her life is determined by the men in her family. Forced into an arranged marriage with an older man by her conniving brother and uncle, Mari learns to escapes the hardships of her grueling marriage and overbearing stepdaughter-in-law, by dappling in occult arts. It is her experimental ways in this black magic that unleash demons onto Mari’s soul and cause her to do murderous and treacherous acts. Poisoned Honey follows the path of Mari as she slides deeper into a crazed world and her attempts to redeem herself.

This young adult novel starts out quite slow and then becomes slightly confusing. Gormley’s attempt to showcase the demons controlling Mari was not convincing enough to me. The only surprising aspect of this novel was how Mari, or whoever was controlling her, decides to deal with her gruesome husband. It was easy to predict that Mari’s marriage would end, but the circumstances surrounding the end of her marriage were definitely surprising. It would have been interesting to see how Mari dealt with her new marriage and life, without becoming possessed by demons. Another aspect that is not explored is James. Though Gromley does devote several chapters to James, I wish Gormley would have focused more on James, whose life was interconnected with Mari’s. Gormley’s depiction of James’ story was more interesting than demon-possessed Mari.

I will give Gormley credit for attempting to create a new story for Mary Magdalena. It was also nice to see how the author addressed the issue of Mary Magdalena being a prostitute, which is often how she is portrayed. The author deals with this misconception in one quick sentence and that was it. If the reader is able to get passed the first fifty or so pages of Gormley’s mundane explanations of the characters and settings, then they might actually be able to finish the novel. Gormley does try to put a new spin on an old story and her attempt is quite refreshing, just not executed that well.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library book sale thinking it'd either be interesting or awful.... and I'm so happy to say it was the former! I really enjoyed this book. I am not a religious person (I'm the walking definition of agnosticism), and there is very little that I actually know about Mary Magdalene other than the big rumor that she was married to Jesus. I got this book purely because I really do enjoy reading people's renditions of biblical things simply because I find it enjoyable to speculate on the "What if this is what happened?" sort of notion on things like these.

I found I really enjoyed the story Beatrice Gormley portrayed of a young Mary Magdalene and all that she went through. My favorite part was definitely when the demons started possessing her (something I do not actually believe in), but it was done in such a believable, non-obnoxious way that I was fascinated by that part of the story. My other favorite part was how Jesus was portrayed. We've all been told that Jesus was a righteous man with immense powers, but this day in age with so much focus on religious rights to beliefs and the fighting it causes, I feel we've lost that message that God and Jesus was and are all loving. We use religion as a way to prove that our opinions are right and others are wrong. But if God and Jesus really do exist, I whole heartedly believe they would be like the Yeshua of this story - being able to look at someone and see past all the negative, bad, and "evil" things and see a soul full of love and life. And the fact that someone who simply did that, saw the person as simply a person and was able to accept them as such, was able to change the way someone thought and saw the world... that is truly profound and wonderful. It's a shame people can't do that these days. It truly is.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book and really enjoyed reading it! Which is great, because lately I haven't been liking the books I've purchased at the library.

[Patricia O'Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mari is the daughter of a sardine merchant who dotes on her and a mother who thinks that it is her duty to train her daughter for the hard life of a Jewish woman in a Magdala ruled by Romans. Married at fourteen to an older man who ignores her and living in a household of women who despise her, Mari’s only comforts are her visions of the ancient prophet Maryam, sister of Moses, and the secret world of friends that live in her mind. When her husband dies unexpectedly, Mari finds herself free of his unpleasant household, but now possessed by demons she thought were her friends. Her only hope is a controversial rabbi who wanders from place to place, Yeshua of Nazareth.

In the last fifteen years, dozens of novels have been written about the life of Mary Magdalene but little of it is written for a younger audience. Beatrice Gormley has done a fine job of making this misunderstood saint accessible to young readers by casting Mary Magdalene as one of them. Mari’s story is compelling as Gormley does a good maintaining the tension between Mari and her family and Mari and her demons. While I loved the story, I was disappointed that Gormley did not follow Mary Magdalene through to her most important moment, becoming the apostle to the apostles when the risen Christ appears to her and tells her to share this revelation with the other apostles. This vision that made her famous should have been included in a story that is billed as an explanation of Mary Magdalene’s controversial persona.

[Cindy Huskey · Rating 3 out of 5]

At thirteen, Mari has visions and hears voices, traits her family dismisses as an over-active imagination. However, Mari succumbs to a series of tragic events, and she is forced into an arranged marriage to save her family from financial ruin. Repulsed by her husband and ostracized from her new family, Mari’s misery turns to desperation. With the help of an Egyptian wise woman, Mari develops the ability to escape her oppressed marriage to a secret garden in the spirit world where she soon becomes possessed by evil spirits. Alienated from her family and friends, Mari’s only chance for survival lies in the wandering preacher Rabbi Yeshua in hopes that he may exorcise the demons before they destroy her. Based on stories from the New Testament, Gormley draws a new portrait of Mary Magdalene, one of the most misunderstood characters in the Bible, that contradicts her presumed life of prostitution. Poisoned Honey follows Mari from misfortunate maid to one of Jesus’ most trusted disciples and includes a parallel story of another disciple, Matthew the tax collector. Although this novel drags at the beginning with details of Jewish culture and customs in Galilee, the characterization of Mary Magdalene and her descent into darkness provide a gripping tale that is sure to thrill young audiences interested in biblical fiction.

[Shirleon Sharron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I thought that it would be interesting to read about the kind of life Mary of Magdala could have had. As a Christian, I'm familiar with what the Bible says about her, so I was intrigued.

The Bible didn't give us much as to her life, so the author took many liberties to give Mary a life. Her family had a sardine business (not unlikely, though I had no idea that sardine's were in the Middle East. She was to be married (also not unlikely as this was the life of women in that time). She was influenced by a 'magic woman from Egypt' and this is probably what caused her to have demons. While the demons could have gotten into her in any way, this seems the most likely.

I thought that the transition from crazy demon possessed Mary to healed Mary was quite abrupt. I think that it would have been better to drag that part out a big more. I was expecting to see her on the streets, homeless, in towns raving like a lunatic.

Her relationship with Yeshua (Jesus) was more like two really good friends just hanging out. He relied a lot, it seemed, on the gifts that people brought to him. He's Jesus, that shouldn't matter. At least, not the way the book seemed to say.

I did think that Mary's transition from calling the demons voices to what they were - demons - was poignant. I was able to pick up on that like it jumped off the page.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This came back to the library from Summer Reading and I asked the student as she returned a big pile of titles what was her favorite. This was her pick. It's been on our shelf and I never read it. Loved it...a very interesting take on Mary Magdalene, the way of life in the time of Jesus, and having faith. NOT overly preachy, uses the term Rabbi Yeshua for Jesus....I started it and had to keep reading to the end. Glad I did.

[Jean Piscopo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me some time to really believe in the story. My religious education is reflected in the facts Gormley presents. I was put off by some of the odd encounters and behavior of Mary which are infused about midway through the story. She recovers and presents a interestingly different portrait of this well-known woman.

[Meggen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing look at one possiblity of how Mary Magdalene could have become possessed with seven devils. Interesting, yet disturbing at times as well. There were some very poignant sections about healing and how Christ's influence brings peace. I would have liked to read more about the rest of the story after Mary's cleansing.

[Missie Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this retelling of Mary Magdalene's story, especially how the author brought women to the forefront. Jesus' message of gender equality was also part of the story, which was nice to see. After finishing the story, I was actually surprised to realize that this was basically Christian fiction (extremely orthodox in theology), although published by a mainstream publisher.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get into the book I stopped reading around page 50

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was waiting for it to get good, but it never did.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was actually better than I expected. It was very engaging and I couldn't put it down.