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J: The Woman Who Wrote the Bible
Like the women of the Red Tent, even the daughter of King David lived in a world ruled by men. But this woman was born to break the rules of both men and God in order to learn the art of writing, and with it, a power that could reveal the hidden truth, or slay a man with a single word. When Janaia, eldest daughter of King David of Judah, is secretly initiated into the art and magic of writing, she finds she must master the sublime powers and visions that come with this new kind of knowledge in order to take her place in history and before God. We follow her life from the caves of Judah to the glory of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, a journey which reveals the secrets of life and death. The first Israelite woman to learn the secrets of writing, Janaia discovers through heartbreak and sacrifice that this knowledge of good and evil brings with it both frightening power and jubilant freedom from the rules of men and God.
343 pages, Paperback
First published July 16, 2010
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About the author
Mary F. Burns
20Ìýbooks34ÌýfollowersMary Burnsâ€� debut historical novel J-THE WOMAN WHO WROTE THE BIBLE was published in July 2010 by O-Books (John Hunt Publishers, UK). Her second novel, PORTRAITS OF AN ARTIST about the 19th century portrait artist John Singer Sargent, was published by Sand Hill Review Press in 2013. This was followed by her Sargent/Paget Mystery series: THE SPOILS OF AVALON, THE LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES, and THE UNICORN IN THE MIRROR. #4 is on the way! Other literary novels include EMBER DAYS, OF RIPENESS & THE RIVER; and a non-fiction literary essay/exploration "Reading Mrs. Dalloway".
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Ms. Burns was born in Chicago, Illinois, grew up in the western suburb of LaGrange, and attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where she earned both Bachelors and Masters degrees in English, along with a high school teaching certificate. She relocated to San Francisco in 1976 where she now lives with her husband Stuart in the West Portal neighborhood. Ms. Burns has a law degree from Golden Gate University, has been president of her neighborhood association and is active in citywide issues. During most of her working career she was employed as a director of employee communications, public relations and issues management at various SF Bay Area corporations, was an editor and manager of the Books on Tape department for Ignatius Press, and has managed her own communications/PR consulting business as well, producing written communications, websites and video productions for numerous corporate and non-profit clients.
BLOGS: and and
Ms. Burns was born in Chicago, Illinois, grew up in the western suburb of LaGrange, and attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where she earned both Bachelors and Masters degrees in English, along with a high school teaching certificate. She relocated to San Francisco in 1976 where she now lives with her husband Stuart in the West Portal neighborhood. Ms. Burns has a law degree from Golden Gate University, has been president of her neighborhood association and is active in citywide issues. During most of her working career she was employed as a director of employee communications, public relations and issues management at various SF Bay Area corporations, was an editor and manager of the Books on Tape department for Ignatius Press, and has managed her own communications/PR consulting business as well, producing written communications, websites and video productions for numerous corporate and non-profit clients.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 16, 2012
See, the problem with this book isn't that a woman couldn't have contributed towards the writing of the Bible. It is actually a common theory that the J author was a woman, the problem for me is the singular use of woman. My theory is that it's most likely a community of authors, translators, scribes, and Rabi's who over generations of hearing oral stories most likely told by... women. It is most likely not a woman, but women, that influenced the writing and rewriting of sacred scrolls in the J author. I like the PEDJ author theory, and it could be, and most likely is that women contributed, but I doubt that any of these authors are simply just one person. The title is a bit deceiving and the theory is a bit forced to stick with the title, the best point is that J is the most feminist author--to take a relatively new term and force it into a biblical setting I'd argue that the book should have been titled "J the Feminist Author of the Bible" or "J the Women Authors of the Bible." or "J the Influence of Women in the authorship of the Bible."
Most importantly I feel that if this is your first exposure to the Bible author theory of PEDJ that it is not adequately explained. If this book stood alone better I'd gladly give it 3-4 stars. But as a first or only book on the subject it doesn't get a higher rating. If I taught "old testament" as we Catholics call it, I'd use this book as a supplemental text towards the end of the semester.
Most importantly I feel that if this is your first exposure to the Bible author theory of PEDJ that it is not adequately explained. If this book stood alone better I'd gladly give it 3-4 stars. But as a first or only book on the subject it doesn't get a higher rating. If I taught "old testament" as we Catholics call it, I'd use this book as a supplemental text towards the end of the semester.
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April 3, 2013interesting, but didn't like the premise
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