The controversy surrounding Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code has intensified interest in Mary Magdalene and Jane Schaberg's book provides an authoritative source for a deeper understanding and re-assessment of Mary. Within a progressive feminist framework, The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene approaches Christian Testament sources through analysis of legend, archeology, and gnostic/apocryphal traditions. This is the story of the suppression and distortion of a powerful woman leader -- Schaberg presents Mary Magdalene as successor to Jesus in a challenging alternative to the Petrine primlacy. Virginia Woolf is Schaberg's conversation partner, providing from time to time an encouraging, skeptical, and politically savvy voice. Schaberg makes use of Woolf's insights, such as those into structures of domination and the Society of Outsiders, her explorations of androgyny and communality. Woolf"s mysticism is seen as important and central. Both Biblical Studies and Woolf Studies benefit from this collaboration.
