“Here’s the truth, sister: Mary Magdalene has been knocking at the door of my heart for three years. “She got squeezed out of Bad Girls of the Bible when I realized I needed more time to research her complex story. Then she was dropped from the roster for Really Bad Girls of the Bible because Tamar and Bathsheba took up more than their allotted pages. (Pushy, huh?) Now I know the real reason why Mary M waited so patiently in the wings: She deserves a book all her own!“Come meet the genuine Mary Magdalene of the Bible–not the scarlet-draped legend–and follow her one-of-a-kind story of deliverance and dedication, despair and declaration. Like my previous Bad Girls books, Mad Mary begins with the fictional journey of Mary Margaret Delaney, a bad woman–or was it madwoman?–adrift in contemporary Chicago, desperate for someone to save her from herself. “Once Mary Delaney’s story has prepared our hearts for learning, we’ll leave the Windy City and go verse by verse through Mary of Magdala’s ancient biblical tale, tossing aside modern misconceptions as we embrace the real Mary M. “Prepare to be amazed by this eye-opening sister who was transformed twice when You-Know-Who showed up and spoke her name. Oh, Mary!”– Liz Curtis Higgs