For those lover's of the television series "Quantum Leap," this is a must read. Sara, being the daughter of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is enough to grab a reader's attention, but Martin offers much more. Sara travels inside and through time inside the bodies of other characters and with each leap you're brought to the point where you wonder what's next. Martin's prose is prolific as she describes scenery and surroundings. She also keeps Sara's character the main focus of the story. This is a fictional story that explores history, the spiritual world and time travel. A real complex plot, but still a page-turner.

This story is based on a novel concept: if Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene had a child, what would that child's life be like? The Bringer of Happiness by Karen Martin follows the life of Sara, the daughter of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ. Sara's physical life is spent fleeing the Romans who persecute those who follow the teachings of Mary Magdalene. Her spirit, however, is able to leave her body and travel forward in time. She spends these travels trying to make sense of how both of her parents' teachings could be so distorted and used to promote hate and intolerance. Her journey is both beautiful and sad. From her early life in Jerusalem to her travels north in search of a safe place to practice their religion, Sara is surrounded by familiar biblical characters from the New Testament. She struggles to find her destiny as the child of such important and revered teachers. The teachings of Mary Magdalene described in this story are moving, and it's difficult to watch Sara try and ensure her mother's words are not lost. There is an urgency to Sara's mission as she works to control her gift for time travel without realizing that her destiny could lie in a different direction altogether. This book is filled with unfamiliar concepts that are well-explained. Sara's surroundings and storyline are also well-described. The writing is incredibly beautiful and paints a clear mental picture for the reader. There is a scene in the book while Sara is in spirit form where she comes across a field of butterflies that is especially noteworthy. There are also several poems and (for lack of a better term) sermons by Sara's mother that contribute to the beauty of the story. History tells us that the teachings of Mary Magdalene are not widely accepted and were mostly lost, but that does not mean that the reader will correctly guess the ending of the story. I loved everything about this book and therefore gave it the highest rating possible because of the overall concept, the plotline, and the writing. I highly recommend this story to anyone with an interest in the genre of ancient history, mysticism, and magic.

This is a work of fiction centered around Sara, that daughter of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. While their teachings are there, and Mary Magdalene is often present, this is Sara's book entirely, it is not used for her parents to be the center of attention, she is. She has a certain gift and her destiny is, or is it?, to help a young Cathar girl save her mother's manuscript as her group's fortress is burned down. This being said, I appreciate greatly the immense courage the author had to release this kind of subject into the world. And I appreciate so much she gave Sara a voice. If your are looking for the Magdalene, though, you will find her here. The author's theatre background creates sometimes short and sketchy scenes, very rapid, and your attention is necessary to keep pace with Sara's many travels into other persons (yes, you read that right, this is her gift). However, among the many nuggets of wisdom there is so much poetry and and a sort of dreaminess, I really don't know how to name it better. I feel it is a big depart from the previous book in the series as the story unfolds softer, richer, in wonderfully described environments. The desert, the beach, the space under the trees and the mountains, all landscapes are beautifully depicted and a strong part of the story. I appreciate very much the complexity of the story and how the wisdom is written down. In the beginning I felt some characters explained too much with a modern voice the many details that had to be known to make the book develop. But then I reveled in the presence of key characters, with their eccentricity, like the Gipsy Queen, or in the historical encounter Sara has. I value how everything is seen with clear eyes, especially in this times when some people seem to romanticize too much what we believe was the Cathar faith. Plus, as its subject gets to see a glimpse of them, the book doesn't shy away from the many horrors history is known to feature. This story has extraordinary moments, like I have never encountered before in a book. How the Initiation in the Mysteries is felt, embodying Sophia, what it means to go beyond body and float as a spirit, there are some scenes here so surreal, so powerful, of such grace and beauty, they left me in awe. I could write so much about this book, of its so many layers. Yet, I hope, and tried, to be as objective as I could in this review, giving how close this subject and so many of the places and moments featured here are to my heart. My greatest hope for this book is that it is read with an open mind, beyond the inevitable political questions we, people of a certain faith, cannot get over. May this book find your where you are and give your what you need.