The Galileans: A Novel of Mary Magdalene

Frank Slaughter crafted this rather touching novelization of the life of Mary Magdalene in 1953. In his interpretation, the famous Biblical character is an independent female with powerful charms as a dancer and a beautiful mane of fiery red hair (depicted on the original dustjacket -- this idea of red hair for Mary Magdalene was also very popular with Italian Renaissance artists). He does not subscribe to the notion that Mary Magdalene was also the Mary of Bethany mentioned in the Bible (Scripture doesn't say they were the same person), and he does not paint her as a wily prostitute. Instead, his Mary Magdalene is a smart female who falls in love with the young, accomplished physician Joseph, nephew of the famed Joseph of Arimathea (who is mentioned in Scripture as the one who asked for Jesus' crucified body). While Joseph patiently waits for an opportunity to commit to her, Mary is caught up in circumstances beyond her control, drawn into Pontius Pilate's court and abused there. The idea of females -- particularly beautiful ones -- being seen only as sexual objects, and the resulting feelings of shame and lowliness, are huge themes here. And this male author takes quite a bit of care in illustrating them. When Jesus comes along in this story, he's only secondary, even though he's critical to Mary's "salvation." His words are taken directly from the Revised Standard Version of the New Testament. Slaughter dives into the politics of the time, the relations of Jews and Greeks and Romans, to set the proper scene for the Galileans he focuses on. But the things Mary falls victim to have nothing to do with politics or the dreadful way females were viewed in those times; these are universal themes that are alive and thriving today. Slaughter began his career a surgeon, hence his inside knowledge and additional research of Joseph's doctorly qualities. He started writing books later, and went on to write many. As he states in his preface, we don't know a whole lot of facts about Mary Magdalene, and the Catholic Church and others have drawn their own conclusions about her. I enjoyed Slaughter's take on her, because I read it as it was meant to be read, as fiction.