A Fisher of Women: The Tale of the Forgotten Healer of Galilee

Catherine
Magia
Genre: 
Historical

BIBLICAL FICTION:  When Jesus returns to Galilee, the wife of Simon Peter follows, hoping to rebuild her relationship with her husband, and learn from the divine teacher. Attempting to serve Jesus and alleviate the suffering he feels upon healing the sick and infirm, Simon Peter’s wife befriends a pagan magician named Helen, and attempts to teach her about Jesus and help Jesus at the same time. However, not everyone is willing to tolerate her friendship with the foreign magician and with threats to Jesus all around, letting go of fear, learning to forgive, and healing with more than just faith, will require a journey Simon Peter’s wife did not expect.

A fictionalized account of the unnamed wife of Simon Peter, “A Fisher of Women: The Tale of the Forgotten Healer of Galilee” is the second book in The Fisherwoman series. A complicated story, it has many positive and negative aspects that could appeal to or repel readers. On one hand, the story is smoothly written, with clear characters, a mix of scripture and historical events presented in an easy to follow manner, combined with a clear and conflicted journey for Simon Peter’s wife to undergo. On the other hand, the negative portrayal of Jesus and Simon Peter is contrary to that presented in the Bible, while Judas Iscariot is shown as a sympathetic character. Further, most characters are made unnecessarily darker, as if to make them more sinful for dramatic purposes. Overall, readers looking for a loose interpretation of the events of the New Testament through an unnamed woman’s eyes might enjoy this tale, but those seeking accurate religious fiction might look elsewhere.   

Sarah E Bradley