Book: Mary, Called Magdalene by Margaret George

I have this thing for Biblical fiction. Not Christian fiction, but specifically fiction based off of stories in the Bible. It's hard (imho), to find *good* examples of this kind of writing. The only one that comes directly to mind is Anita Diamant's The Red Tent.

Obviously, this book is based off of the person of Mary of Magdala from the New Testament. I enjoyed the book, even though I disagree with a few of the things that the author runs with. Such as Mary and Joseph having children together after Jesus' birth. Or the romantic (though unfulfilled) relationship between Mary and Jesus (she loves him and wants to be his wife, but he knows that that is not his path). I think she leans more heavily toward the view that Jesus was a prophet, but not divine, but that could just be my view of her writing, since she doesn't say one way or the other. Since it's from the point of view of Mary, and she's still learning, that makes sense, of course.

I liked the introduction to all of the Apostles and how each of them had a different relationship with Jesus, how he spoke differently to each of them, and they took different 'highlights' away, even though the message was the same. I was very amused when Simon bar Jonah's name was changed to Peter, at first as sort of an in joke, because he was so stubborn someone told him he had a head like a rock, and Jesus said he should be called 'Peter' because of it. :) Or, when Jesus met Judas, and they were going to eat with the 'sinners' that Jesus had told Matthew (who used to be named Levi) to invite, Jesus says 'I like sinners' and Judas says something like, 'oh, good, I like sinners too' which is less amusing, but still amusing, if you're me, I guess.

She also had a different take on *why* Judas betrayed Jesus. That he did it, misguided as it was, to try and save Jesus from himself. That he didn't 'get' what the real mission was, and was concerned that Jesus was going to get himself killed, so he thought he'd get him locked up for a little while, and out of harms way. Which didn't work out so hot.

Also, Mrs. George at least avoids the popular yet erroneous belief that Mary of Magdala was a prostitute. So she gives her a perfectly normal life, growing up, getting married, having a child, just...due to a mistake as a child, she slowly becomes possessed by demons. She wasn't a 'bad' person, just an unfortunate one, in that sense.

I enjoyed the book, but I wouldn't call it the best Biblical fiction I've ever read. Still, I don't feel as though I wasted my time with it.