The Secret Magdalene: A Novel (2005)

The Secret Magdalene gathers elements in the Christ myth as conceived in the Gnostic tradition, and unifies them through the character of Mariamne / Mary Magdal-Eder / Mary Magdalene. Longfellow imagines the actions of Jesus / Jehoshua as a deliberate effort to craft a Jewish godman myth, after the myth of Osiris. The book itself reinforces the idea the Bible usefully can be read this way: in effect a constellation of important themes and positions, arranged as a story; and not as divine revelation as advocated by the Roman Catholic Church.

Brings home the End Times atmosphere prevalent among many during the life of Jesus, the competing doctrines and sects such as the Essenes, the Sicarii, the sense of urgency driving their members.

Nice evocation of landscape and geography.

Intriguing portrayal of the family of Jesus and his cousin John of the River / John the Baptiser: presumably not all were so related within the Bible as edited by Deuteronomists? I'm not sufficiently familiar with the Bible narratives to identify when & how Longfellow changed or invented relations, or to assess how plausible these relations are. Similarly, unclear how closely the Biblical stories such as the Woman at the Well were followed in this story.

Hieratic to the extent Longfellow first references explicitly the doctrine of constructing a godman myth as a medicinal lie, then proceeds to relate her story (which, in fact, follows that narrative). Suggests Longfellow's story is itself a Socratic teaching.

Also raises the possibility the tale is constructed as a variant of the Memory Palace, predicated on the structural elements of narrative rather than architecture. This possibility in turn suggests that Longfellow's story would be useful primarily as a mnemonic, that is: to recall facts and concepts, and prompt reflection thereupon, and not as the initial presentation of the argument or concepts. Yet for all but an extremely small minority of readers, the story will be just that, the first encounter of the argument, not an engaged recollection of it. Of course the author would anticipate that situation: does she play with that duality, with a separate intent for each audience? Use it pragmatically as a means for propagating the meme (an established hieratic practice)? ( )

While I enjoyed the story, this novel was too academic for me, especially all the references to the various tribes and their beliefs. I thought it took a lot away from this adaptation of Magdalene. ( )

This is a superb novel that assumes that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were a couple during his life and that once he had died, she was the focus of one among several teaching/preaching groups. Its ideas follow on from the (non-canonical) Gospel of Philip. Thought provoking. ( )

I really loved this book... eagerly awaiting the third (this is the first) in her series. ( )

Stunning. Changed my mind and my life. This book MUST stay in print for all those like me who need meaning and great writing and a great story. ( )