Welcome to my website!
I'm Peter Longley, author of The Magdala Trilogy: A Six-Part Epic Depicting a Plausible Life of Mary Magdalene and Her Times.

About the Author
Peter Longley graduated with a master's degree in theology from Cambridge University in 1970. He was a licensed lay-reader and preacher in the Anglican Church both in Ireland and the United States. Brought up in England, Longley lived in Ireland from 1966-1977. Since 1977, he has lived in the United States in Georgia, Minnesota, and Missouri.

About my book, A Star's Legacy:

Volume One of The Magdala Trilogy:

A Six-Part Epic Depicting a Plausible Life of Mary Magdalene and Her Times.

In 5 B.C. a star appears mysteriously in the Middle Eastern sky, and three people are born under its aspect: Joshua of Nazareth, Linus Flavian, and Maria of Magdala—A Star's Legacy. At the time of their birth, superstition is rife. Intrigue between High Priests, the Herodians, and Rome, along with hope in an expanding world of greed and commerce, gives shape to their divergent but intertwined destinies. Action takes the reader from Jerusalem and the hillsides of Galilee to the Jewish world of Egyptian Alexandria, the trading centers of Petra and Palmyra, and the magnificence of Rome. Surrounded by slavery and rebellion, and immersed in their own adolescent dreams, the lives of Joshua, Linus, and Maria unfold in a vast canvas covering the length and breadth of the Roman world.

The Magdala Trilogy provides a fascinating commentary on the origins of Christianity. Who was Jesus' father? Was Jesus married? Was the Messiah divine? Where were the seeds of his message sown? Has that message come down to us in Christian orthodoxy or was there something else? Could Mary Magdalene have been the guardian of a different message? Was Mary Magdalene a lesbian? Did Jesus have a son? 

These questions are all explored in an epic that traverses the trade routes of the Ancient World, mingling Roman, Greek, Jewish, Persian, and Indian thought and philosophy in a quest to better understand Mary Magdalene and her times. A Star's Legacy and its sequels are both challenging and yet plausible, incorporating traditional beliefs, fictitious thoughts, and new controversial interpretations. With vivid prose and compelling characters, A Star's Legacy offers a captivating glimpse into Biblical times.

About my book, Beyond the Olive Grove:

Volume Two of The Magdala Trilogy:

A Six-Part Epic Depicting a Plausible Life of Mary Magdalene and Her Times.

Joshua, Maria, and Linus Flavian determine their destinies. From the Nazirite and Essenic sects to the burgeoning fishing industry on the Sea of Galilee, Joshua and his band of followers are led from obscurity to the portals of the Roman prefect in a movement poised to change the world. They are members of a healing ministry that concerns the Jewish authorities that are striving for survival and security under the umbrella of Rome.

Accidentally, Maria of Magdala becomes a part of this movement, and is left with an awesome responsibility. Linus Flavian pits Roman pride and ambition against a Galilean past.

The second in the dramatic new series, The Magdala Trilogy, Beyond the Olive Grove provides a fascinating commentary on the origins of Christianity that is both challenging and yet plausible, incorporating traditional beliefs, fictitious thoughts, and new controversial interpretations. With vivid prose and compelling characters, Beyond the Olive Grove offers a captivating glimpse into Biblical times.

About my latest book:
 
The Mist Of God

Volume Three of The MagdalaTrilogy:

A Six-Part Epic Depicting the Plausible Life of Mary Magdalene and Her Times.

With vivid prose and compelling characters, The Mist of God offers a captivating glimpse into Biblical times providing a fascinating commentary on the origins of Christianity that is both challenging yet plausible, incorporating traditional beliefs, fictitious thoughts, and new controversial interpretations.

The destinies of Linus Flavian, Maria of Magdala, and their son, Marcus, play out in this dramatic first-century story that spans the extremities of the known world of that time, from Britannia to India. The Roman Empire is rising to its height while a fledgling religious sect of Judaism reconciles itself with the mystery of its crucified leader, Joshua of Nazareth. Growing from a clash between nationalistic Judaism and a messianic universalism, followers from Saul of Tarsus to Simon Cephas take the fledgling faith out to the Gentile world on the trading routes of the House of Arimathea.

Their witness, however, differs from the very personal understanding of divinity that Maria believes she learned from her lover, the crucified Lord. Nevertheless, she passes this legacy on to her son Ben Joshua, the child Joshua never knew. Ben Joshua finds this message enhanced when he travels to India as a partner in the House of Arimathea-but his survival is anything but certain.