Much has been written about Mary Magdalene over the years, mostly about who she was not. Who really was Mary Magdalene? The living woman behind the image is still too little known, and Esther de Boer here attempts to fill this gap. Examining not only the Gospel texts and texts from the church fathers, but also texts discovered in the Egyptian desert during the last century that were not contained in the church's tradition (not the least of which is the Gospel of Mary), de Boer presents a vivid, fascinating, and attractive picture of Mary of Magdala - disciple, apostle, and human being.