Mary, Called Magdalene

Mary is a dedicated child, obedient towards her parents but with secrets of her own. Her family doesn’t know that she secretly learns to read or that she possesses a pagan idol. It is with the passing of years, that the harmless seeming idol takes its toll on Mary, finally imparting its evil on to her. Beset with such devils, Mary seeks aid, first from her husband then from the priests, but all seems to be in vain. Even her penance in the wilderness on her own, doesn’t seem to be adequate in driving out the demons that torment her.
She then comes across a man, one who rids her of her troubles, and one who Mary would follow till the end of her days. In life, this man, Jesus, becomes a symbol of hope, of trust, of education and in his show more death he becomes a symbol of faith. Mary abandons her family and joins the group of disciples who wander around the country with Jesus, preaching and healing.

Jesus has many followers and even more enemies. As his popularity increases so does the threat to his life. When he can no longer be ignored, he is captured with the help of Judas. Judas’ betrayal weighs down heavily on all, but more so on Mary who revered her rescuer and would have been lost without him. Jesus is put to death on the cross with Mary and Jesus’ mother a witness to the ugly end. Lost in prayer of her own, Mary becomes the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection. She thus becomes the Apostle of the Apostles.



Margaret George has easily made it to the list of my favorite authors. She writes with such flair, that even obscure characters of history seem to come alive before the eyes of the reader. In this book, Margaret George takes her readers on a journey to Israel into ancient times where the people are simple, their lifestyles dull compared to our times. But the story of Mary was riveting enough for me to not feel the weight of this 600 page book. An author whose works I’m going to be awaiting eagerly. show less

Very believable and inspiring, really. The descriptions of Jesus and the dialogue with him are very faithful, and from my Christian standpoint, this is an extremely accurate conception of Jesus and his message. Mary herself is complex, sympathetic, and a beautiful soul in this novel. I enjoyed it, but I'm glad it's over - there are some difficult and emotionally draining parts.

Very little is known about the Mary Magdalene of the Bible. Margaret George has taken the five events involving her in the Gospels, plus research into the era, and constructed a believable biographical novel about this female apostle and disciple of Jesus. The story provides some how-and-why background for those five Biblical events, as well as showing what life was like, especially for a woman, at that time and place.

Part One of the book (about 200 pages) covers Mary's childhood up until the time she meets Jesus. This section of the book was the most interesting for me. Part Two is her discipleship, through Christ's death and resurrection and the Pentecost. This section is the longest (about 350 pages, and probably could have been cut show more down a bit, given that it only covers three years. Part Three (70 pages) is her apostleship and the rest of her life, and is told mostly in the form of letters and a "testament" she writes for her followers about those years.

Mary is a sympathetic and realistic character. I will provide one spoiler here and tell you that in this book, she is not the prostitute of so many false legends. However, I did not find the character of Jesus to be especially compelling. Perhaps that was intentional on George's part, to keep the book from becoming overly religious. Instead, it concentrates on the main character, whom the author (in an interview in the back of the edition I read) relates to "both as a spiritual seeker who must often choose between two mutually exclusive goals and as a strong, courageous woman."

Like all of Margaret George's books, this one is long - 630 pages, including a four-page afterword that explains her assumptions and lists some of her sources. I liked this book better than her Helen of Troy, but not as much as The Memoirs of Cleopatra or The Autobiography of Henry VIII. I would recommend it.

© Amanda Pape - 2014

[This book was borrowed from and returned to my local public library. This review is also available on Bookin' It.] show less

This is the story of Mary Magdalene's entire life, from childhood to her death. I enjoyed seeing this controversial historical figure in her own element, with no one sitting in judgment of who she was and her relationship to Jesus. The woman who emerged from these pages was initially very troubled. She was doing her best, but she was literally plagued by demons. She met Jesus when she had given up all hope. He gave her her life back, but her old life didn't want her back. Her family was ashamed of her, partially because of the time she had spent alone with unrelated men, and partly because she believed Jesus's message. With nowhere else to go, she became one of his first followers and traveled and worked miracles in His name.

My problem show more was that it was too long. Had it been about half this size, it would have been perfect. I started to feel like this whole group was wandering up and down Israel without any real idea what they were doing. There are only so many pages of that I can read.

I haven't read very many historical fiction books set around Jesus and his apostles, so I liked seeing all of them as "real" people, in language I could understand. I had a much better idea of their individual personalities after finishing this. I'll be the first to admit that I'm no Biblical scholar, but I feel that the author stayed true to the sense we get of them in Scripture.

I also liked seeing what everyday life was like in those times. I especially liked reading about women's lives.

Since I mentioned the relationship with Jesus, I'll say that I thought it was pretty delicately handled. I am pretty open-minded, but it all felt plausible to me.

I did find out the problem with sort of getting to see Jesus in a new light: the crucifixion is all new too. My reading pace practically stopped when I knew I was getting close. It wasn't as graphic as I was afraid it would be, but it still hurt to read it.

Those with more patience for aimless wandering may enjoy this more than I did. I do recommend it as a book that lets you see some central figures of Christianity in more of an everyday light. show less

Thought by some to be a whore and by others to be a saint, Mary Magdalene has been a polarizing figure since she lived 2000 years ago. In “Mary Called Magdalene”, author Margaret George makes several assumptions regarding Mary’s childhood and adulthood, as very little is known about her early life, but many will recognize much about the few years she spends following Jesus.

It seems strange to compare Mary to Henry VIII, but as he was the subject of another book by George, it is a valid comparison. Unfortunately, Mary’s “memoir” can’t hold a candle to Henry’s. Where “Autobiography of Henry VIII” has passion and excitement and plain old feeling, “Mary Called Magdalene” ends up reading like a novelization of the show more gospels. Perhaps it was because many of the things Jesus and the disciples say are almost “quotes” from the Bible, but the conversations came off stilted and the characters didn’t seem alive. Of course the ending is poignant, and seeing some of Christianity’s basic lessons as they were first taught is comforting, but as a novel, I think George could have done better. show less

Most of the book is conjecture because little is know about Mary Magdalene. I feel that the book didn't really explore the depths of why Mary sacrificed her very life, the life of her child and family to follow Jesus. Jesus would obviously have played a bigger part than this book alludes to. I finished the book unsatisfied.

Interesting and well-done; I learned a lot and appreciated George's creation of her early life