Being Magdalene by Fleur Beale

Being Magdalene is the third in a series by New Zealand author Fleur Beale.  The first two books are I am not Esther and I am Rebecca.  This book continues on the story of the lives of the Pilgram family in the Children of the Faith in Nelson.

Here is the front cover:

Here is the blurb on the back cover:

This book focuses on the second to youngest daughter in the Pilgrim family, Magdalene.  Now age 12, she is the eldest daughter at home.  The remaining siblings with her are Abraham (aged 18), Luke (aged 15) and Zillah who is seven going on eight.  Their sister Rachel lives nearby with her husband Saul and their three year old daughter Hope and pregnant again, living by The Rule.

Meanwhile, their older siblings and cousin are fearing well in the real world.  Daniel has become a doctor, and unknown to his family still in the Faith, is working at Nelson Hospital.  Miriam has become an artist who is exhibited.  Kirby/Esther and Rebecca are studying at tertiary level.  They have the support of their uncle and aunts, Jim, Nina and Ellen (Kirby's mother).

All is not well in the Pilgrim household.  Their mother, Sister Naomi, has not recovered from the shame of Rebecca running away and she is particularly hard on Magdalene and Zillah, demanding they live by The Rule, preaching scripture at them constantly and always believing the worst of Magdalene.  Abraham and Luke appear to live godly lives, but Abraham has no time for The Rule and Luke does not believe in a destructive God, but rather a kindly God.  Zillah does not believe in The Rule and hates Elder Stephen and longs to go to a real school.  Magdalene concentrates all her energy on ensuring Zillah does not become the target of Elder Stephen's displeasure, to her own detriment.

Elder Stephen has not forgiven the Pilgrim family for Rebecca running away and he and Elder Hosea will take any opportunity to cause the Pilgrims discomfort and punish the children for any perceived break of The Rule.  However, Elder Stephen's actions become even more erratic and when he denies Abraham the right to marry or study, Abraham takes matters into his own hands.  This leads to further actions by Elder Stephen putting Zillah's safety in peril, and Magdalene and Zillah have only one option left open to them.

Again this book would be rich fodder for the secondary English class, bringing up the thorny issues of freedom, religion, cults, wormen's rights, power, etc.   This book was, like several others of Fleur Beale's, nominated for the Children's Book Awards.  It was a powerful book that kept me engaged and is well worthy of awards in my opinion.