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Sister Deirdre #3
The Gospel of Mary
A young Irish nun finds herself the guardian of a mysterious manuscript claiming to be the lost gospel of Mary, when she realizes that church authorities are willing to kill to get their hands on it . . .
An old and dying nun has turned up at Deirdre's monastery in Ireland with an ancient manuscript on a papyrus roll. When Deirdre reads the first line, she realizes it claims to be a previously unknown gospel written by Mary, the mother of Jesus. The church authorities in Rome have been seeking to destroy this gospel for centuries, claiming it is a forgery that threatens the very foundations of the faith.
Deirdre begins to translate the gospel, but when a delegate of the pope arrives in Kildare searching for the text, she must set out across Ireland seeking safety as the church and its henchmen are hot on her trail. What does the gospel say? And why is the church so afraid of it?
An old and dying nun has turned up at Deirdre's monastery in Ireland with an ancient manuscript on a papyrus roll. When Deirdre reads the first line, she realizes it claims to be a previously unknown gospel written by Mary, the mother of Jesus. The church authorities in Rome have been seeking to destroy this gospel for centuries, claiming it is a forgery that threatens the very foundations of the faith.
Deirdre begins to translate the gospel, but when a delegate of the pope arrives in Kildare searching for the text, she must set out across Ireland seeking safety as the church and its henchmen are hot on her trail. What does the gospel say? And why is the church so afraid of it?
240 pages, Hardcover
First published September 5, 2017
6 people are currently reading
804 people want to read
About the author
Philip Freeman
76 books515 followersI teach Classics and Celtic studies at Luther College in the beautiful little town of Decorah, Iowa. I did my doctoral work at Harvard and taught at Boston University and Washington University in St. Louis before coming to Luther to help run the Classics department. I love teaching and see my writing as an extension of my work in the classroom. I hope you enjoy the books as much as I enjoyed writing them.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 13, 2018
Three and a half stars
Again I seem to have found myself in the middle of a series. It concerns Sister Deidre in sixth century Ireland. This is apparently book 3. Again it didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the previous 2 books. Sister Deidre is a nun at the monastery in Kildare but she has also grown up with Druid tradition and considers herself Christian as well as a Druid bard. When the ailing and injured Sister Branwen comes to the monetary she has with her leather case which includes a scroll, believed to have been written by Mary, the mother of Jesus. She asks Sister Deidre to keep it safe but warns men will be coming with the aim of seeing it destroyed. Sister Deidre wants to begin to translate the document but she has to flee when men come searching for it and then for her.
This was an enjoyable read that blends a lot of information about the Druids and Celtic tradition with Christian truths. As a piece of fiction, it makes for an quick and entertaining read, although I did think perhaps the ending was hinted at early on in the story. Sister Deidre is a strong, determined character and the translation of the gospel purported to be by Mary comes across well. This short book was interesting enough to keep my attention. It keeps up a steady, even pace throughout, though at times in regards to the chase, it requires a suspension of disbelief. An entertaining read.
Again I seem to have found myself in the middle of a series. It concerns Sister Deidre in sixth century Ireland. This is apparently book 3. Again it didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the previous 2 books. Sister Deidre is a nun at the monastery in Kildare but she has also grown up with Druid tradition and considers herself Christian as well as a Druid bard. When the ailing and injured Sister Branwen comes to the monetary she has with her leather case which includes a scroll, believed to have been written by Mary, the mother of Jesus. She asks Sister Deidre to keep it safe but warns men will be coming with the aim of seeing it destroyed. Sister Deidre wants to begin to translate the document but she has to flee when men come searching for it and then for her.
This was an enjoyable read that blends a lot of information about the Druids and Celtic tradition with Christian truths. As a piece of fiction, it makes for an quick and entertaining read, although I did think perhaps the ending was hinted at early on in the story. Sister Deidre is a strong, determined character and the translation of the gospel purported to be by Mary comes across well. This short book was interesting enough to keep my attention. It keeps up a steady, even pace throughout, though at times in regards to the chase, it requires a suspension of disbelief. An entertaining read.
July 12, 2020
A 6th century Irish nun, Sister Deirdre, is given a parchment that purportedly contains the gospel of Mary, mother of Jesus. Now, Deirdre is racing to translate the document while on the run from people who want to destroy it -- and her. Described as a mystery, this is a fast-paced historical adventure combined with an intriguing examination of what the life of Mary might have been like.
December 30, 2017
A tiny little book in which nothing at all happens, the vocabulary choice was baffling, and the characters have almost no substance.
I did like Deirdre, though. She was spunky.
I did like Deirdre, though. She was spunky.
July 12, 2020
Two nuns from an Irish Ministry try to evade representatives of the Pope as they translate an ancient Armaic document. The church doesn't want the document known regardless of the translation. We are treated to two stories: the one of avoidance of pursuit and the pursuit of the translation. There are many female characters from the women of ancient times who protected the document to the two nuns and the women who helped them along the way, along with story of Mary and her scribe Rebekah.
November 12, 2017
This review appears in Historical Novels Review 82 (November 2017):
This is the third in Freeman’s popular Sister Deirdre mystery series set in 6th-century Ireland. Deirdre is a multitalented sleuth who is both a Christian nun and a Druid bard, and her privileged status allows her the freedom to travel around Ireland solving problems and frustrating the cynical designs of powerful men. She and her colleagues at St. Brigid’s Abbey in Kildare have strangely contemporary views on equal rights, humanism, science, literacy, and medicine, but Freeman’s command of life in the ancient world is impressive, and he has an admirably efficient way with a plot. This installment is not so much a mystery as an extended chase over a large chunk of Ireland (at a somewhat incredible pace), as Deirdre and her friend Dari try to stay ahead of church authorities while they carry to safety a long-lost papyrus that they believe contains the first-person reminiscences of Jesus’s mother, Mary.
Half this short novel is a translation of Mary’s “gospel,” which is actually a simple—but touching—retelling of the events of the New Testament from her point of view. Deirdre finds both friends and adversaries in her headlong race to get the papyrus translated before it falls into the clutches of the misogynistic Abbot of Armagh, her longtime foe. If you overlook the simplistically modern voices and attitudes Freeman gives his characters, it’s actually an absorbing story, and offers just enough of Deirdre’s background to be enjoyable without having read the first two books in the series.
This is the third in Freeman’s popular Sister Deirdre mystery series set in 6th-century Ireland. Deirdre is a multitalented sleuth who is both a Christian nun and a Druid bard, and her privileged status allows her the freedom to travel around Ireland solving problems and frustrating the cynical designs of powerful men. She and her colleagues at St. Brigid’s Abbey in Kildare have strangely contemporary views on equal rights, humanism, science, literacy, and medicine, but Freeman’s command of life in the ancient world is impressive, and he has an admirably efficient way with a plot. This installment is not so much a mystery as an extended chase over a large chunk of Ireland (at a somewhat incredible pace), as Deirdre and her friend Dari try to stay ahead of church authorities while they carry to safety a long-lost papyrus that they believe contains the first-person reminiscences of Jesus’s mother, Mary.
Half this short novel is a translation of Mary’s “gospel,” which is actually a simple—but touching—retelling of the events of the New Testament from her point of view. Deirdre finds both friends and adversaries in her headlong race to get the papyrus translated before it falls into the clutches of the misogynistic Abbot of Armagh, her longtime foe. If you overlook the simplistically modern voices and attitudes Freeman gives his characters, it’s actually an absorbing story, and offers just enough of Deirdre’s background to be enjoyable without having read the first two books in the series.
August 19, 2017
Sister Deirdre Volume Three!
My thanks go out to my contacts at Pegasus Books, Iris Blasi, Katie McGuire, and Maia Larson, for my copy of this book! Rock on!
An elderly nun, Sister Branwen, arrives at Kildare with a scroll of high value. Passing it off to Sister Deirdre, she gasps that they will be coming for it. She lapses into a coma and dies without speaking again.
Sister Branwen was in possession of a scroll supposedly written by the Virgin Mary. It is written in Aramaic, which Sister Deirdre and Father Ailbe are able to read and translate.
In order to do this, Sister Deirdre and her friend Sister Dari must find a place to hide. The Church of Rome has been trying to trace and destroy this scroll for years. Whether or not the scroll is genuine, it would cause further argument and chaos in the church which must be avoided at any cost! The Pope himself has sent Brother Bartholomew as an emissary with the authority to destroy the scroll and anyone who knows its secret by any means necessary!
I believe that the Sister Deirdre series may be favorably compared to Peter Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma series. Both take place in ancient Ireland and deal with the mysterious, church policy, and Rome’s rise to total domination of the Catholic Church. Where Fidelma is a Princess and Lawyer as well as a religious; Deirdre is both a Christian and a Druid Bard. Both women have to balance the two sides of their life.
I have been a fan of Sister Deirdre from the first book in the series, and I hope to see many more books to come. I give the book five stars plus!
Quoth the Raven…
My thanks go out to my contacts at Pegasus Books, Iris Blasi, Katie McGuire, and Maia Larson, for my copy of this book! Rock on!
An elderly nun, Sister Branwen, arrives at Kildare with a scroll of high value. Passing it off to Sister Deirdre, she gasps that they will be coming for it. She lapses into a coma and dies without speaking again.
Sister Branwen was in possession of a scroll supposedly written by the Virgin Mary. It is written in Aramaic, which Sister Deirdre and Father Ailbe are able to read and translate.
In order to do this, Sister Deirdre and her friend Sister Dari must find a place to hide. The Church of Rome has been trying to trace and destroy this scroll for years. Whether or not the scroll is genuine, it would cause further argument and chaos in the church which must be avoided at any cost! The Pope himself has sent Brother Bartholomew as an emissary with the authority to destroy the scroll and anyone who knows its secret by any means necessary!
I believe that the Sister Deirdre series may be favorably compared to Peter Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma series. Both take place in ancient Ireland and deal with the mysterious, church policy, and Rome’s rise to total domination of the Catholic Church. Where Fidelma is a Princess and Lawyer as well as a religious; Deirdre is both a Christian and a Druid Bard. Both women have to balance the two sides of their life.
I have been a fan of Sister Deirdre from the first book in the series, and I hope to see many more books to come. I give the book five stars plus!
Quoth the Raven…
September 27, 2017
I won The Gospel of Mary: A Celtic Mystery by Philip Freeman from Goodreads.
Philip Freeman takes readers on another fascinating journey in his third Sister Deirdre novel, The Gospel of Mary. When an ancient scroll, believed to be the personal writings of Mary, the mother of Jesus, falls into Deirdre's hands, she must flee thee monastery in order to protect it from those who wish to destroy it. This book offers not only another visit with Celtic life, but also a look at the role of women in the growth of the early Christian faith and the Catholic church.
Perfect for fans of Hero's Journey type storytelling, The Gospel of Mary by Philip Freeman is another great adventure with Sister Deirdre.
Philip Freeman takes readers on another fascinating journey in his third Sister Deirdre novel, The Gospel of Mary. When an ancient scroll, believed to be the personal writings of Mary, the mother of Jesus, falls into Deirdre's hands, she must flee thee monastery in order to protect it from those who wish to destroy it. This book offers not only another visit with Celtic life, but also a look at the role of women in the growth of the early Christian faith and the Catholic church.
Perfect for fans of Hero's Journey type storytelling, The Gospel of Mary by Philip Freeman is another great adventure with Sister Deirdre.
July 5, 2017
When an old nun makes her way to Deirdre's monastery in Ireland her dying wish is that Deirdre hid a package and keep it safe. When she opens the package she discovers a gospel written by Mary, Mother of Jesus. The Pope sends a team who will stop at nothing to destroy the package and Deirdre escapes to journey across Ireland to save the book. An adventure with a lot of historic detail and church history. This book gives you a good bit to think about. Mr. Freeman is a teacher and a historian of Celtic culture and writes with a nice flowing style and incorporates facts and fiction.
August 28, 2017
An ancient scroll reputed to be from Mary, the mother of Jesus, comes into Sister Deirdre's hands. The Church in Rome and the Abbot of Armagh want the scroll destroyed. Sister Deirdre and Sister Dari flee deep into the wilds to hide with the Druids while she translates the document. Many lives are endangered in the process. The Gospel of Mary tries to give a woman's view on the life of Jesus. Fans of Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael should enjoy this story which was a free review copy obtained through Goodreads.com.
August 31, 2017
This is a mystery set in Old Ireland. Sister Deirdre receives an old tube containing an even older parchment – The Gospel of Mary. Sister Deirdre is cautioned, “They are after it.” So we have two nuns running from the representatives of the Pope, trying to pause long enough to translate the parchment.
What does it say? Will the text prove to be real or fake? Why does the church want it destroyed?
With this introduction, I was excited to read this book. The story just doesn’t quite deliver what the opening promises. . Interspersed within the escape and evade story is the author’s version of what Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have written about the home life of Jesus of Nazareth. There are good action scenes, but the “intense mystery” or the “What’s does the document reveal?” is not quite there. The story moves along, but fails to grow in suspense or intensity.
What does it say? Will the text prove to be real or fake? Why does the church want it destroyed?
With this introduction, I was excited to read this book. The story just doesn’t quite deliver what the opening promises. . Interspersed within the escape and evade story is the author’s version of what Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have written about the home life of Jesus of Nazareth. There are good action scenes, but the “intense mystery” or the “What’s does the document reveal?” is not quite there. The story moves along, but fails to grow in suspense or intensity.
September 27, 2021
I had never read this series or this author before. I picked up the book at a library sale and was not sure if this was Christian fiction, which it was not. It was historical fiction with adventure and a little bit of mystery. Absolutely no preaching. Yay.
The premise of this novel was fascinating. It was well researched and well written. The atmosphere was beautifully established. The supposed "Gospel of Mary" felt very plausible to me.
I would definitely read this series again. I was pleasantly surprised.
The premise of this novel was fascinating. It was well researched and well written. The atmosphere was beautifully established. The supposed "Gospel of Mary" felt very plausible to me.
I would definitely read this series again. I was pleasantly surprised.
February 22, 2019
Sister Deidre and her friend embark on a dangerous journey. Sister Deirdre is given an ancient manuscript by an elderly sister who dies immediately afterward. Deidre can interpret the ancient Aramaic but the church wishes to surpress this work that is written by Mary. Deirdre and companion have to stay one step ahead of those seeking the work. But is it real? And what will it reveal? The Gospel of Mary is Philip Freeman's Sister Deidre' third in the series.
February 22, 2021
This is the third book in the Celtic Mystery series by Philip Freeman. All of them have been very good. The same basic characters as the first two mysteries are part of this book. As the title suggests the plot revolves around the arrival of an original copy of The Gospel of Mary. In this case the mother of Jesus. It is being hunted, for destruction by the Catholic Church and ends up in the hands of Sister Deirdre who must protect it using any means necessary.
August 13, 2021
I picked up this book because it has an interesting premise. The novel is, however, a real lightweight. It’s not a bad book, just thin on texture. We don’t know why the characters do what they do. They translate the scroll but have very little reaction to it. The voices throughout are modern to the point of being anachronistic. That being said, I don’t regret having read it. It was a quick read and kind of fun. But I will remember the premise much longer than the book itself.
August 15, 2019
Opinions Will Differ in This One
A fine story though almost completely different from the first two of the series. The Gospel of Mary is almost totally a story of Jesus' early years as told by his mother translated by Sister Deirdre. I enjoyed it although some may not
A fine story though almost completely different from the first two of the series. The Gospel of Mary is almost totally a story of Jesus' early years as told by his mother translated by Sister Deirdre. I enjoyed it although some may not
January 1, 2018
Now I need to read Freeman's first two!
January 17, 2018
Another wonderful read in the Sister Deirdre series. Philip is a really good writer and writes a very engaging novel. I look forward to more in this series!
August 5, 2019
Liked this book as well as his others. Te gospel of Mary that he created is very moving.
February 25, 2022
3.5 Stars
The Celtic atmosphere is truly felt in this short biblical type mystery.
The Celtic atmosphere is truly felt in this short biblical type mystery.
February 17, 2023
DNF. Do you want to roll your eyes a lot? Read this book.
dnf-peace-and-love
September 8, 2024mary from palestine 🇵🇸‼️
April 8, 2018
Very light Catholic fiction. If you have nothing else to read.....
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews