«Touch of the Magdalene» by Diana Barsham

Mary Magdalene was the intimate companion of Christ, a woman who knew more about him and his extraordinary mission than anyone else. The Magdalene herself remains something of a mystery. After proclaiming Christ's resurrection from the dead, this colourful woman disappears from the story of the new church and vanishes from its history. Legend has it that she spent the rest of her life as a recluse in the mountains of Provence. Until, that is, a new gospel came to be written for which the Magdalene was to become the prime witness and oral source.The Touch of the Magdalene offers a carefully researched, imaginative reconstruction of the afterlife of this enigmatic Christian heroine. Alone in Provence, she struggles to make sense of the tumultuous events in which she was involved as a young woman. When her solitary life is disturbed by the arrival of a stranger whose job is to ghost-write the Gospel of John, Magdalene has to decide which of her memories she will share with him. As the lover of Jesus and the Christian evangelist grow closer to each other and the true story of the resurrection is revealed, Mary Magdalene learns that the stranger himself has his own secret knowledge of this founding event of the Christian faith.