Napoli, Donna Jo. Song of the Magdalene.NAPOLI, Donne Jo. Song of the Magdalene. Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster U.S. publishing company. It was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon (1899–1960) and M. Lincoln Schuster (1897–1970), whose initial project, the original crossword-puzzle book, was a best-seller. . 240p. c1996. 0-68987396-4. $5.99. JS* With the current high interest in Mary Magdalene (The Da Vinci da Vinci Surgery A surgical robot for performing certain surgeries–eg, mitral valve repair and laparoscopic procedures–eg, cholecystectomy and gastric ulcer repair. See Laparoscopic surgery, Robotics, Surgical robot. Code, etc.), this YA novel about Mary's childhood and young adulthood up until she meets Jesus will have extra appeal. Since there is no biblical reference to Mary's background, Napoli has complete freedom to create a plausible story without offending anyone. She is a scholar and has applied her talents to a recreation of life in Palestine 2000 years ago. AS she says, she has worked backwards from what we do know of Mary in the Bible. Obviously, Mary would have to be a woman who felt free to disregard the Jewish laws that governed them--the laws of purity, which included prohibitions against handicapped and diseased persons, which prohibited a woman to befriend be·friend tr.v. be·friend·ed, be·friend·ing, be·friends To behave as a friend to. befriend Verb to become a friend to Verb 1. a man not her kinsman kins·man n. 1. A male relative. 2. A man sharing the same racial, cultural, or national background as another. kinsman Noun pl -men . So, Napoli has put Miriam (Mary) into the household of a widower as his lone daughter, with their housekeeper who is the mother of a severely handicapped son. The boy Abraham is brilliant, although others think he is an idiot. As Miriam approaches puberty, she experiences her first epileptic epileptic /ep·i·lep·tic/ (ep?i-lep´tik) 1. pertaining to or affected with epilepsy. 2. a person affected with epilepsy. ep·i·lep·tic n. One who has epilepsy. fit--a sign of possession by demons Demons See also devil; evil; ghosts; hell; spirits and spiritualism. ademonist one who denies the existence of the devil or demons. bogyism, bogeyism recognition of the existence of demons and goblins. in their culture. Abraham knows this, keeps the secret, and teaches Miriam to read. They become special friends, which leads to their desire to marry (forbidden in Jewish law); their clandestine lovemaking love·mak·ing n. 1. Sexual activity, especially sexual intercourse. 2. Courtship; wooing. lovemaking Noun 1. creates a child. Abraham dies of his ailments before the child is born. Miriam is seen as a prostitute, and is beaten severely enough to cause the death of her unborn child. Eventually, others see her epilepsy and she knows she can find no place in her world. At the end of the book, Miriam has heard of the holy man (John) who baptizes at the River Jordan and she starts the long journey by foot to seek him out, living for a time in the caves of Qumran. Then she hears of the healer Joshua (Jesus), and joins other pilgrims hoping to meet him to be healed. This is a powerful story, told adeptly by Napoli, who gives readers a clear description of life in Israel at the time of Jesus. (An ALA Best Book for YAs.) Claire Rosser, KLIATT |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion