{"id":216251,"date":"2025-05-01T06:17:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T06:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/review-magda-revealed-by-ursula-werner\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T06:17:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T06:17:01","slug":"review-magda-revealed-by-ursula-werner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=216251","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: \u2018Magda Revealed\u2019 by Ursula Werner"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\u2018Call me Magda\u2019, invites Mary Magdalene, and I\u2019ll tell you the truth about Jesus and I\u2026<\/h2>\n

Mary Magdalene has been the subject of much discussion in the two thousand odd years since she, Jesus and Jesus\u2019 disciples preached in ancient Galilee. Now, in Ursula Werner\u2019s modern retelling of Mary\u2019s life, \u2018Magda\u2019 gives readers her own version of events to counteract the past, \u2018Two thousand years of misinterpretation, cover-up, deception, and yes, outright lies.\u2019 First of all, she wasn\u2019t a prostitute. That was just an error promulgated by Pope Gregory I, who \u2018couldn\u2019t keep his Mary\u2019s straight\u2019.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it about?<\/h3>\n

Focusing primarily on events which took place during Jesus\u2019 last year of life, \u2018Magda Revealed\u2019 presents a familiar set of events through an unfamiliar perspective and, in so doing, simultaneously humanises Jesus (or \u2018Yeshua\u2019, as he is named throughout,) and reinforces his message of radical equality. This is a Jesus who had bad dreams and was troubled by them, who struggled with his destiny.<\/p>\n

There is a similar reimagining of Judas, who becomes Judah, a man racked with personal anguish that prevents him fully comprehending Jesus\u2019 core message, even as he strives to promote it, and Peter, whose deeply embedded misogyny means that he and Paul will ultimately construct a church that deliberately excludes women.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it like?<\/h3>\n

From the outset, Magda\u2019s tone is strikingly contemporary, describing Yeshua as having an \u2018ace up his sleeve\u2019 and assuring readers that \u2018you guessed it\u2019. She also has a very modern sense of humour, telling us that Yeshua has been watching humanity evolve for the last two thousand years and that, \u2018He uses the word \u201cevolve\u201d with a straight face.\u2019 I enjoyed the narrative voice, which is of course<\/em> primarily a first person narration \u2013 Mary reclaiming her story in her words \u2013 but also makes frequent reference to the reader, deliberately breaking the fourth wall to challenge readers, especially when the storyline strays into the transcendental.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a brilliant mix of myth and what feels like reality: Jesus\u2019 mother\u2019s claim to be a virgin is met with deep scepticism by her neighbourhood and results in an uncomfortable childhood for Jesus. Similarly, his invocation to \u2018turn the other cheek\u2019 is met with real passion by a character whose past has been fleshed out for us, putting grey meat on the ethical bones of this dilemma. What good would turning the other cheek do, demands this man, when Roman conquerors will simply kill me? This pain, and Magda\u2019s discomfort with this pain, vividly illuminates the challenges at the heart of Jesus\u2019 teachings in a way that Yeshua\u2019s own simple message cannot achieve.<\/p>\n

I love a well structured book and here the prologue and epilogue frame the main narrative perfectly, further embedding the image of Yeshua \/ Jesus as both human and timeless when Magda \/ Mary tells us that, \u2018I hate it when he sulks\u2019, but follows this with discussions about the future of humankind.<\/p>\n

Final thoughts<\/h3>\n

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this intriguing reimagining of Mary Magdalen\u2019s life, and the final message of Jesus\u2019 teachings, as presented by Magda, certainly seems a more appealing version than Peter and Paul\u2019s take. I really enjoy reading historical fiction that inspires me to want to research the actual history, and \u2018Magda Revealed\u2019 certainly achieved that. From my, admittedly limited, reading around the subject, the novel seems to be thoroughly grounded in the traditional Christian narrative, although I suspect some Christians may be unimpressed by Magda\u2019s final role in the novel and her suggestions regarding Paul\u2019s damascene conversion.<\/p>\n

For me, the only niggle was Werner\u2019s presentation of men and women\u2019s roles during childbirth, during which Magda claims that, \u2018Nobody suffered more [than the woman\u2019s husband] during the day and a half\u2019 long labour because \u2018At least she [the labouring woman] had a purpose\u2019. In such a feminist book, this suggestion that a man suffered more than a woman because he felt impotent to help her as she laboured for hours on end, felt like a very odd departure from the overall tone, even if Magda adds that she has no intention to \u2018minimize the pain of\u2026labour\u2019. Sweetheart, you just did.<\/p>\n

Other than this, I really enjoyed the storytelling, although Magda was right: I made no effort to believe when religious \/ supernatural phenomena arose; I simply accepted it as part of the tale being told.<\/p>\n

An enjoyable, intriguing and deeply contemporary retelling of a traditional narrative.<\/p>\n

\u2018Magda Revealed\u2019,
Ursula Werner,
2025, She Writes Press, paperback ARC<\/h6>\n
Many thanks to Rachel Lachney of Books Forward for providing me with a free copy of this book. This is my honest review.<\/h5>\n