Joan Wolf's Daughter of Jerusalem ~ Reviewed

Daughter of Jerusalem
By: Joan Wolf
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 320
Vendor: Worthy Publishing
Publication Date: 2013
ISBN: 1936034670

Description
Why would Jesus seek out Mary Magdalene as the first person he appeared to after his resurrection? In this compelling novel, Mary tells her own story about how Jesus' words transformed her heart; why she committed her wealth and influence to his ministry; and how it felt that glorious morning to discover the Lord was alive!
Review:

Daughter of Jerusalem is a fictionalized story of Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, and what events in her life led up to the time she met Jesus.  It begins with her childhood, depicting how she was forced into a marriage with a man she did not love which led to an adulterous relationship with a man she did love.                 
 I don’t have much to say about this book.  Perhaps if I knew it wasn’t a fictionalized story of a real person from the Bible I would have enjoyed it more, but I didn’t care for the liberties that were taken in this book.  It was almost as if Mary, the prostitute and Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha, were combined into one character.  I also didn’t like the way in which Jesus was presented in different areas of the story.  Sometimes, it came across as if he didn’t know what was going on or why people acted the way they did, and Mary was the one giving him advice.  Our Lord did not need anyone’s advice, and if He did pose a question, it was to make people think.  Personally, I wouldn’t recommend this book. 

Reviewed by: Sarah Meyers