Maeve, Celtic druidic daughter, aka Red, Roman prostitute, aka Mary of Magdalen, tells her gospel, her life, her version. I liked parts of the book, in particular the style and many of the characters, but why does she need to become a goddess? I think the best version still of a rewriting from a woman's perspective remains Luise Rinser's Miriam. ( )

Such a wonderful telling of the Passion of Mary/Jesus. I love the interweaving of the Monotheist and Goddess cultures which is done in this fascinating historical fiction narrative. It actually makes me think more compassionately about the story, removing fear and crazy cultist fanatism towards Jesus into a beautiful, heart centered, loving story. Love it!!! ( )

Against my better judgement: 4 stars, because (a) she did her homework and (b) was wildly imaginative. The tone is romance-novel with tongue-in-cheek (or not) and her sentences are often clichés. I just finished Mary Karr’s Lit, which is so beautifully written that I kept reading sentences aloud to anyone who would listen. In the first 200 pages of The Passion of Mary Magdalen, I read aloud sentences because they were so bad.
And yet. Her imagined Mary Magdalene is at her best taking on well known Biblical episodes from a different perspective. Not one rang false, except perhaps the very last one. I had hoped for more, more of what this means to say that Jesus is Risen and alive in our lives.
( )

What a whore! As a non-religious person, I'm not very familiar with Jesus and biblical tales, but I felt as though I could be transported into an earlier world through Cunningham's tale. A lusty and passionate story of Maeve/Mary and her relationship with Jesus. I think the author could have left out her references to current day trends, however, in order to keep with the feeling of taking readers into an earlier time and world. ( )

I really liked this book. It's one of my favorite readings of the character of Mary Magdalen, aka Maeve, the goddess-worshipping Celt. She's feisty, tough, omnisexual, and just as magical as Jesus. She has serious reservations about Yahweh, but she's crazy about Jesus, so she manages to (mostly) go along with his agenda.

I'm not a huge fan of retellings of the Jesus story, but this is definitely one of the best of the genre. It's well-written, with every character distinct and interesting. It's a ripping good story, a great beach read but with some serious undertones. It's well-researched, & has a good grip on ancient history. It's pro-woman, pro-earth & pro-pleasure. I do recommend it. ( )