By Cynthia Bourgeault
Shambhala Publications, $16.95, 256 pages
Organization is a great thing. Cynthia Bourgeault’s book explores the importance of Mary Magdalene to our culture and to the Christian religion, especially for its different branches. It examines Mary’s appearances in The Bible, and what her own gospel may mean to the world. This is a great book for someone looking for solid information on the one of Christian History most mysterious figures.
The research put into this book is nothing less than incredible. Bourgeault is definitely done her homework. She synthesizes and analyzes a lot of new and already known data. However, it needs to be organized a little better, with a more definite border between the handing out of information and the exploration of its ramifications. Some chapters include information that still to be presented and discussed. This makes for some very confusing chapters and unclear presentation that relies on the trust of the reader when that trust has not really been earned. This is not necessarily a bad book and provides for a fascinating glimpse at Mary Magdalene, the woman at the heart of Christianity and Jesus’ beloved disciple.
Reviewed by Jamais Jochim
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