Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, I hoped for better!
Review: I came to "Mary Called Magdalene" searching for something as spiritually fulfilling and female-oriented as "The Red Tent", and was sadly disappointed. We need more women's perspectives from and about the Bible, but this one just didn't ring true! It's an "okay" read (I did *finish* it, anyway), but the story is slow and the characters (especially Magdalene herself!) are flat. I've researched Magdalene extensively, and find her to be a fascinating and much-maligned historical character, with a strong spirit that has lasted even through all of the mud-slinging. (The "prostitute" nonsense seems to have been started long after her death, by churchmen who were annoyed by her position as "favored apostle," more than anything else.) I was hoping to find an insightful (maybe even feminist) reading of the historical Magdalene, and instead received a rather bland and culturally-appropriate version of a (rather boring) Biblical housewife. If you're looking for a powerful historical novel on Biblical characters, I highly recommend Anita Dymant's "The Red Tent," or for younger readers, Madeleine L'Engle's "Many Waters." Leave poor Mary Magdelene in peace-- this book doesn't do her justice.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Her Best
Review: I love Margaret George books. Having said that, "Mary Called Magdalene" was the most disappointing of the lot. Give me Henry, with his robust character and Will his Fool. Give me Mary Queen of Scotts...was there ever a more ill-fated woman. But spare me this Mary of Magdalene. I couldn't relate to her on any level....not biblical, not emotionally, not even as a "good read". A total disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: AVID READER
Review: AS AN AVID READER I SELDOM FIND A BOOK WORTH MY TIME. TO ME THERE'S NOTHING BETTER IN THE WINTER THAN A FAT BOOK AND A COMFORTABLE COUCH. I WAS AMAZED WHEN I READ THE OTHER REVIEWS AND SAW THAT THEY WERE LESS THAN ENTHUSIASTIC. I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS GREAT BUT I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT I HAVE NEVER READ THE ENTIRE BIBLE AND CONSIDER MYSELF SPIRITUAL RATHER THAN RELIGOUS. SINCE I'VE ALWAYS FELT THAT THE BIBLE MUST HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY MEN FOR MEN I KNEW I'D HIT UPON SOMETHING GREAT WITH GEORGE. I ALSO NOW HAVE A YEARNING TO FIND NOT MY OWN RELIGION BUT PERHAPS AN ANCIENT ONE THAT BETTER SERVES US ALL, AS EQUALS. SINCE OTHERS HAVE SAID THAT THIS IS ONE OF HER WORST BOOKS I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO DELVE INTO THE "BETTER ONES".
Rating: 
Summary: Respecful and informative but a little lacking
Review: Generally I did enjoy reading the book, and I liked the respectful way in which Mary is portraited along with the historical setting. I think George did an excellent job creating a life for Mary and exposing Jesus life and mesage. I was expecting a more extense exploration of Mary's feelings for Jesus and a hint that maybe he could have shared those feelings. I think the book is definitevely worth reading but I agree with some of the other reviews that it is not George's best work. I enjoyed Mary, Queen of Scotts a great deal more.
Rating: 
Summary: Neighbor Author
Review: Margaret George lives across the street from me, you all may think I'm psycho but I don't know why I would read this book if she didn't. Well, I did read it and I found it to be a lot better than I expected. I'm not a religious person but the book was incredible and kept me pulled in the whole time. I also recommend The Memoirs of Cleopatra By: Margaret George
Rating:
Summary: very moving account about a misunderstood person
Review: This book was very compelling. The story of Mary of Magdela was moving. I always thought that Mary was a reformed prostitute, but the way she was portrayed made her a very likeable person. I love the way she intertwined her life with Jesus. Sure, I know the biblical story about Jesus but Ms. George put it in a way that left me very sad and understanding for maybe the first time the scope of what happened to Jesus and the pain of the people that he left behind, the confusion and the wonder of what was going to happen now. Sure reading this centuries later it could be "so what another biblical story" but for me to see it from the eyes of Mary and to read her story, I was enthralled. My advice is don't compare this to Ms. George's other books. This is truly a unique read.
Rating:
Summary: A trip to the first Century
Review: This book transports the reader to the world of first century Palestine. It ties the gospel accounts together for those familiar with it, and brings the characters to life. For those not as familiar with the gospel, the book can be a great place to start.
It makes you feel like you have actually met Jesus, walked with Him, looked into His face, heard His voice, watched Him die, witnessed His resurrection.
I enjoyed reading it so much, I did not want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth 600+ pages
Review: I've read all of George's other novels, so I was extremely excited to see this one on the new release shelf at my local bookstore. In all of George's other novels she has revealed additional viewpoints, and helped me to critically think about characters that history has villainized. However, Mary is the exception. This book sticks pretty closely with the Biblical standard and doesn't really fictionalize anything to keep the reader guessing or excited. This book would be good for a Christian youth camp or a Christian book club, but if you are not Christian this book is extremely trite. I'm not sure I would have stuck with this novel except for the fact that I needed to rationalize the hardcover price to myself. If you would like a good historical fiction book, try Henry VIII, or Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary, Called Magdalene is by far George's worst effort, and I'm not sure I'll run out and buy her next novel as this is SO disapointing.
Rating:
Summary: Letdown
Review: I read The Memoirs of Cleopatra and was enthralled. I picked this one up, hoping to be similarly enchanted. I was quite disappointed. I realize the difficulties involved in writing religious fiction, especially one with Jesus as a main character, so I'll leave out my opinion on that. But religious variations aside, this book was just not up to Margaret George's standards. Although it started out good, it just progressively got duller.
As Mary grew older, she grew more and more perfect. She is near flawless and the few "mistakes" she does make are in the best interest of someone else and thus, not really mistakes. I think having a more human heroine would have made this story a little better. This Mary just gets annoying. Secondly, while Margaret George usually has impeccable accuracies in her historical facts, this book had quite a few discrepancies. Regardless of what your personal beliefs are, when writing a biblical story, the bible should be used as historical source. George puts her interpretation of things on it, always favoring Mary, which would be fine under any other circumstances but doesn't work so well with a biblical story. One thing that particularly irritated me was the persistant mention of the power of Satan and his followers. However, the Jewish people (I've been informed) believe in evil but not this one particular manifestation, much less Beelzebub or other such devils. And these characters were originally Jews. All in all, I found this story to be uninspired and rather dull. I still await George's next book and hope she takes it on with a little more passion and innovation.
Rating:
Summary: Great idea - disappointing results
Review: George starts out with a great idea - choose a relatively minor character from a momentous time and build the personal into the historical. And she starts out well, setting up several interesting scenarios - close friends not accepted by the family, a mysterious yet alluring youth, religious factions vying for recognition and power, a young daughter taken from her mother who longs to simply speak to her. But unfortunately, about half-way through the novel the author resorts to merely repeating historical and biblical stories the reader already knows. And she does it not with a profound faith the early Christians must have felt, but by simply presenting what happened and largley ignoring how they felt and their reasons for abandoning everything and following this strange new church and its ideas. She leaves many questions unanswered or answered too simply. And such shortchanging of the reader's interest is disappointing. We want to know what happens to these people who were important to Mary throughout the book, but in the end, they are seemingly shoved out of the way to get to the end of the story. George let us down and she let down a potentially very interesting premise.
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