The Secret Magdalene Author:Ki Longfellow Raised like sisters, Mariamne and Salome are indulged with riches, position and learning -- a rare thing for women in Jerusalem. But Mariamne has a further gift: an illness during childhood has left her with visions; she has the power of prophecy. It is her prophesying that drives the two girls to flee to Egypt, where they study philosophy, math... more »ematics and astronomy in the Great Library of Alexandria. After seven years they return to Judea, where many now believe John the Baptizer in the messiah. Salome too begins to believe, but Marimamne, now called Magdalene, is drawn to his cousin, Yeshu'a, a man touched by the divine in the same way she was during her days of illness. Together they speak of sharing their direct experience of God; but Yeshu'a unexpectedly gains a reputation as a healer, and as the ill and troubled flock to him, he and Magdalene are forced to make a terrible decision. The radical retelling of the greatest story ever told brings Mary Magdalene to life -- not as a prostitute or demon-possessed -- but as an educated woman who was truly the "apostle to the apostles."« less