Mary had never felt so betrayed! How could he have done this to her?

In her young life, Mary of Magdala had more than her share of disappointments. After accepting her father's request, she had moved far away to live with her Aunt Leah and her family. Despite being an outsider there, she soon found comfort and then wonderful romantic love with Daniel, a young related cousin. He was so handsome and kind and they both found joy in each other. Despite their stated intentions of marriage and pledges of undying love, Daniel's father soon found a much more lucrative match for this lovely young Jewish girl with the beautiful hair. She is to be married to another -- a rich and powerful old man in another city far away.

Lonely in her new place, Mary found a new friend. A rich and influential Roman woman called Julia. After her betrayal by her Jewish family, Mary is more than happy to follow Julia's lead down a different path. Yet, when circumstances change dramatically, Mary has to make a choice. What is she to do?

The story of Mary of Magdala (Mary Magdelene) has fascinated people from its first telling in the Bible and then through the centuries as scholars and novelists have pondered and wondered at her amazing story from rising from sin to redemption and then to being the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus, who scant days before had been cruelly crucified for being "The King of the Jews."

Written in Mary's voice, JOAN WOLF instantly pulls us back through two thousand years to freshly hear and see her story from her experiences as a young girl right to how and why she became the most faithful of all the followers of Jesus. Wolf is a well experienced writer and provides in this easy to read story an authentic context of the times. She aptly describes in dialogue and description the attitudes for Romans and Jews and the place of women in that time and the unique path that Mary was to take. The author also excels at character development and in this account, Mary is a warm and very likable person who finds her means to make her mark in life. Secondary characters are also well-describes with negative actions set in the context of the times. Her descriptions of her siblings, Lazarus and Mary, are particularly set in a very positive light.

While there is scholarly Biblical debate on whether or not Mary Magdelene could be related or not to Mary and Lazarus, Wolf's account is well expressed and is intriguing to speculate on. As this is a work of fiction, Wolf was free to use a bit of literary licence in describing Mary's relationship with her siblings, her participation in key events, the named visitors who brought news of distant happening, and in Mary's own perspective on the words she hears from Jesus. All in all, it makes for a very intriguing storyline and the book, while sure to be a hit with fans of Christian historical novels, is definitely worthy of reading by anyone, regardless of faith preference. It could also be a very interesting book for a book club to discuss. Enjoy!