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Product Description
From Booklist
*Starred Review* The prequel to The Passion of Mary Magdalen (2006) lets us in on how a redheaded Celtic lass wound up the literal bride of Christ, and whereas Passion was deeply based in the New Testament (and the sociology of Roman brothels), Magdalen Rising is rooted in Celtic lore. Mary, nee Maeve, was born to weather-witches on a magical, floating island somewhere in the Celtic lands. Raised with unconditional maternal love and with few restraints on body or soul, she grows to be a glorious creature, with plenty of the talents that her possibly divine mothers used for witchcraft. Yes, she has more than one mother, though it would be giving away the store to explain how. She also has a destiny that she encounters in a vision of a man in desert garb taking a leak--a trademark Cunningham touch, both intensely religious and frankly, even humorously, embodied. When she meets that man at druid school, their fated love begins to unfold. Is he Esus, doomed god of the Celts, or Jesus, doomed god of the Jews, or both? Is she goddess or woman or both? Cunningham plays with complex theological issues--the role of embodiment in salvation, the gender of divinity, the question of sacrifice--but she is preeminently a storyteller, and the reader engages those questions within a marvelous, romantic tale. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
"Smart and earthy . . . richly imaginative . . . the epitome of the storyteller's art."— St. Louis Post-Dispatch , named one of "The Year's Best Books"
"This amazing book could well become a classic of women's literature."— Booklist , named one of the "Year's Ten Best Fantasy Books"
Young Magdalen and Jesus, brimming with youthful charm and arrogance, find each other and fall in love, forging a bond that is stronger than death. Their pleasure is overshadowed by a brilliant but unbalanced druid who knows a perilous secret about Maeve's past. The prequel to The Passion of Mary Magdalen . Now in paperback!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
WARNING!, Mar 15 2007
By Laura K. Hutton "silverwolf" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Magdalen Rising: The Beginning (Hardcover)
If there is one thing I cannot stand, it is being suckered into buying a book twice because it has been re-issued under another title. This book is a fun read and I'm really enjoying this series, but don't buy "Magdalen Rising" if you already own "Daughter of the Shining Isle". It's the same book.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing, to say the least, April 6 2007
By Armchair Interviews - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Magdalen Rising: The Beginning (Hardcover)
First Century CE and the child of eight mothers, Maeve is on her way to the Druidic school to study as a bard. There she meets her stepbrother, as she calls him, Esus of Jerusalem, who is also studying there to be an ovate. This is the first year the Druids have taken seven women into their school to study with the males. Maeve, raised with visions and goddess mothers, has a transcendent healing power. When someone is in pain or dying she can relieve their pain, and even bring them back to life, by laying her fiery hands on them.Some, especially the Jew Esus, thinks she could be a witch, but the powers she has are hers alone and are fashioned after the Druidic arts. Esus and Maeve are very different; he was raised in a crowded world where he "was accustomed to throwing his weight around." Maeve was the adorable, spoiled child being raised on Tir na mBan, who grew up in a world of women and stories. Storytelling is considered an art. The Druids don't write down their stories because keeping memories and shared stories alive creates unity between tribes.
Saying "Tir na mBan" to the Druid's makes them fall into a spell, almost as if this is a mythical place. Maeve's father is the God of the Sea and in her mind Esus and her are both divine. She wants desperately to connect to Esus and she thinks when he shuns her, "So we are different, as different as day and night. But listen, don't day and night meet again and again, one turning into the other? Isn't that how the world is made and made new?"
Magdelan Rising is an intriguing book, combining current pop culture and ancient rituals. This book is a stunning portrayal of a young, naive Esus, who is known to us as Jesus, and Maeve, a gorgeous Celtic goddess who eventually becomes Mary Magdalen.
Excellent book, highly recommended for its levity, wit and knowledge of the first century CE and Druidic culture, along with a glimpse of a confused teenage Jesus.
Armchair Interviews says: This is a phenomenal historical perspective of life in the time of Esus and his foil, Maeve.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Sabrina Williams, May 2 2007
By Front Street Reviews www.frontstreetreviews.com - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Magdalen Rising: The Beginning (Hardcover)
In an imaginative blend of ancient Celtic Paganism, Christianity, and modern secularism, Elizabeth Cunningham delivers the prequel to The Passion of Mary Magdalen in Magdalen Rising: The Beginning. Maeve Rhuad describes her childhood, being a daughter of the divine raised by eight warrior-witch mothers. An enchanted adolescence brings fourteen-year-old Maeve to meet her cosmic twin, Esus, at college.The story is told from Maeve's point-of-view, with the awareness that she is speaking to a twenty-first century reader. She relates events that may seem strange to the reader by comparing them to their modern equivalents. This contrast caught me off guard at first, but as the story progressed, I began to appreciate the added dimension. The book is divided into five parts, each representing a phase in Maeve's life.
Maeve is a fiery red head who has been raised and initiated into the world of the sacred feminine, found herself a namesake for legendary warrior Queen Maeve of Connacht, and has earned her entry into a druid college as part of an experimental coed admissions policy. She is also no stranger to sarcasm, and her tongue-in-cheek commentary throughout the novel adds a comic spin to a somber story that, at times, is wrought with tragedy. Her headstrong challenges to Esus's school of thought will make the reader either laugh out loud or sigh in resigned agreement.
The novel is a challenge to conventional thought that offers some fascinating alternatives to popular legends. Maeve is a heroine for today's reader, and the general reverence for the sacred feminine is a refreshing quality. I began this series with the prequel, but I fully intend to get my hands on the first and forthcoming releases. Fans of Juliette Marillier's fantasy will undoubtedly become loyal fans of Elizabeth Cunningham, as well.
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