The Book of Love
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4.3 • 76 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
The second in the New York Times bestselling Magdalene Line Trilogy continues as journalist Maureen Pascal searches for the mysterious Book of Love—a lost gospel allegedly written by Jesus.
When Maureen receives a mysterious package containing an ancient Latin manuscript, she is stunned to find it signed in code by Matilda of Tuscany, a powerful woman from the eleventh century. Known also as Matilda of Rome, her legacy has been buried by time—perhaps deliberately.
The scroll reveals a demand for the return of sacred texts to the Abbey of Orval, the same mystical site tied to the prophecy of the Expected One. As Maureen begins to piece together the hidden history of Matilda’s life and the elusive Book of Love, she embarks on a journey through time, uncovering a tangle of religious mystery, political suppression, and her own spiritual destiny.
With echoes of the religious and historical mysteries of Dan Brown and Daniel Silva, The Book of Love is a compelling thriller of a woman’s pursuit of the truth no matter the cost.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Maureen Paschal, last seen discovering the secrets of Mary Magdalene in The Expected One, returns in this overstuffed sequel. Haunted by dreams of Jesus telling her to search for "the Book of Love," Maureen, now a bestselling novelist, takes off for France, where her estranged lover, B renger Sinclair, reveals that the mysterious manuscript is supposed to be a gospel written by Christ and whose existence is merely a rumor. Both Maureen and B renger receive strange clues pointing them toward the story of Countess Matilda of Tuscany, an 11th-century noblewoman and an early champion of the Book of Love. With the help of Maureen's cousin, a Jesuit scholar at the Vatican, Maureen confronts dangerous forces bent on covering up the truth and follows Matilde's trail though Belgium, Italy and France, culminating in a stunning sequence within the Chartres Cathedral. However, Matilda's hefty story line exists uneasily next to Maureen's contemporary narrative and relies too much on long-winded narration to explain Christian esoterica. Series fans and readers into Da Vinci Code style church intrigue will enjoy the hell out of this.
