Blood and Silk
The Hidden Love Story of Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth
by Carol McKay

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FASCINATING NOVEL EXPLORES JESUS AND MARY’S CONTROVERSIAL BOND THROUGH THE LENSES OF CULTURAL, SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXTS. Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth’s mysterious, legendary connection can only be realized by revisiting their story through its Greco-Roman, Mediterranean cultural context. Early theologians censored details about theater, literature, dress, cuisine, wedding rituals, glass manufacturing, silk trade, politics and architecture of Mary Magdalene’s time when they did not fit dogma and doctrine. Cultural Historian Carol Aldenhoven McKay retrieves these lost frameworks as the story line follows McKay’s meticulous reconstruction of a formerly forgotten way of life. Blood and Silk: The Hidden Love Story of Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth is a novel fifteen years in the making.

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CHARLAINE HARRIS: NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING AUTHOR OF THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE NOVELS, BASIS FOR TV SERIES “TRUE BLOOD”. “(A)rt historian McKay has done a tremendous amount of research, and this first-person narrative (written from Mary’s point of view after Jesus’ death) is colorful and challenging in its voice and detail. The picture of life in Mary’s time is really eye opening.” MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW “Jesus may have been divine, but he was also a man. Blood and Silk: The Hidden Love Story of Mary of Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth looks at the human side of Christ, who embraced Mary Magdalene as more than a simple follower of his preaching. Reflecting on the times of their lives and drawing much upon research of the era, Blood and Silk is a fascinating and riveting read. Recommended.” TIMOTHY CUSHING: SINGER/SONGWRITER “Carol McKay's Blood and Silk is much more than its title suggests. It transcends a love story and emerges as an incredibly detailed cultural restoration. With an artist's eye, McKay has taken painstaking effort to recreate a cultural window that has been lost for millennia. As if refurbishing a lost and treasured painting, McKay applies her poetic gift for description to a vast body of research in order to transport readers to a tumultuous time of economic, religious and social upheaval.” GARY PRESLEY: CLARION REVIEW “It is obvious that Blood and Silk, with its sixteen-page list of ‘Works Consulted,’ is a serious attempt to reinterpret Christian theology within the confines of an historical novel, and not just a cavalier attempt to generate publicity…. Readers will marvel at the details and anecdotes she imagines, all generated through a thorough knowledge of the disparate cultures melding within Judea at the time of Christ.” ERIN NASS: AMAZON TOP REVIEWER “Blood and Silk is a beautiful mosaic told by a young woman of the two greatest love stories mankind has ever known. Carol McKay captures the reader's imagination and, through careful research, presents the story of Jesus of Nazareth's marriage to Mary Magdalene in artistic, yet historically accurate, detail.” SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER - FCETIER, BLOGCRITICS.ORG “The accurate descriptions of the settings, garments, and social commentary are detailed, picturesque, and sometimes haunting. The construction of prose and choice of words can best be described as simply “beautiful.“ The mind pictures formed by reading her words transport the reader to another place and time….”

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Carol Aldenhoven McKay, Cultural Historian and Artist, received her Master of Fine Arts Degree in painting from Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, in 1993. Carol McKay conceived and managed numerous National Endowment of Arts and National Endowment of Humanities funded public programs. Her focus is the relationship of culture to social and political issues. Carol volunteered for many years teaching Fine Arts to at-risk youth and is a multi-award winner, for among others, a 1980 prime time TV documentary on the roots and causes of violence. Blood and Silk, her debut novel won the top Indie Award for Religious Fiction in 2011 and was the 2011 Indie First Runner Up for Cover Design.

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Contributors

Author

Carol McKay

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FriesenPress Editions

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