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Author Conrad focuses new light on someone whose name is familiar to many and whose identity and destiny interweave religion, legend, and historical fact. As her tale opens, young Zuar, born to a high priestess whose title was Magdalene, is being raised in the temple of the goddess Asherah, expected someday to assume her mother’s designation. Zuar will learn multiple languages, receive visions of the goddess and her wonders, master the arts of healing, and discover her true name—Miriam.
After a broken relationship with Barrabas, she is to marry Yeshua bar Yosef (Jesus). He has the power to cleanse her in mind and spirit so thoroughly that she reaches a significant decision: to abandon her titles and honors as a priestess and embark on a fresh, independent life journey. She begins to follow Yeshua and his disciples, expanding her understanding of the sufferings of the people of Israel and the heartless power of their Roman dictators. As she narrates her tale, her travels with Yeshua’s cohort will blend with emotive messages from her childhood and contemplation of the destiny that she once craved, then rejected, and may again fulfill—accepting the sacred role of Magdalene.
Conrad is an award-winning author and journalist who explores in depth the mentality and experiences of the woman generally known as Mary Magdalene, a vibrant figure long considered to have been a prostitute whom Jesus freed from sin. Conrad deftly depicts her character’s desiring and being harshly betrayed by men while seeking a loving husband. Magdalene’s dynamic psychology and fascinating, sometimes heart-rending experiences will make her recognizable to an empathic audience both within and beyond conventional biblical understanding. Created as the first in a series, Conrad’s cinematic portrayal of one of the New Testament’s best-known women will have its readers eager for the promised sequel.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review