Different Views

The Expected One

Kathleen McGowan

"No matter how busy you may think you are,
you must find time for reading, or surrender
yourself to self-chosen ignorance."

Atwood H. Townsend.



I have always had a fascination with Mary Magdalene, her relationship with the twelve apostles, and Jesus. With that in mind I looked forward to the Da Vinci Code and I read it way back when it was THE book to read. I thought it was okay, little over the top, and the ending left me feeling like it was a rush job. Seemed that Dan Brown felt like he was done writing and plop, here is the end. I read shortly after that Daniel Silva's The Confessor and will say I enjoyed it much much better. While with The Confessor it had more originality to it, was more realistic and had an ending that brought it to a close, not just stop and leave you wondering what the heck....

I was looking for a book to read (yes, sometimes I even have to think of one) when I remembered a recent book about Mary Magdalene that had come out. This book is fiction, but the author tells us she is a decedent of Mary Magdalen and her book is an account of her life experiences, how she came to this realization, and she has chosen to share it with us via fiction.

Maureen Pascal (really McGowan) has written a book about women who have been treated unfairly by history. Mary Magdalene is one of her women, and also one who she feels strongly about. While in Jerusalem she is given a ring with an usually insignia and then she starts having visions. Strange things continue to occur, people ask her questions about "who" she is, "who" she resembles, that they have been waiting for her. Hence, the title, the Expected One. McGowan has quite a different take on Da Vinci then Brown and Silva have, but it is interesting non the less.

I want to point out that even though you know it is suppose to be about the author, it isn't done in an hokey way. (Hokey is the only word that came to mind)

I liked the book. What comes to light is the finding of the Mary Magdalene Gospels. I wish the book had been all about the Mary Magdalene Gospels and how they came to be. When the author writes from Mary Magdalene viewpoint of what transpired all those centuries ago compared to what we have come to know, I loved it. McGowan makes you feel that you are there observing what is going on, when she writes as present day the writing didn't flow as well for me.

What is great when you read a book is when it grabs your interest and leaves you wanting to read more about the subject, this is what The Expected One did for me. It left me fascinated to learn more about Mary Magdalene and her views of what occurred during her time.

I liked the book and would recommend it, especially to those of you who liked Da Vinci Code and The Confessor.

Happy Reading!