4.5 stars"I am a mathematician, a philosopher, an astronomer. The people believe what they are told. I believe nothing, consider everything."I applaud any book that makes me reflect deeply about my own beliefs. I am always open to learning new things and considering the opinions of others - which is why in many ways I could relate to Hypatia of Alexandria as depicted in this story. Besides, she was also a mathematician, and I’ve always had a special place in my heart for numbers (right next to t...

4 and a half stars, rounded up.Knowing how much I love classical history, my darling husband suggested we watch "Agora", a fictionalized account of the life of Hypatia of Alexandria, who was once the most famous mathematician of the Roman Empire (poor thing, he had no idea what he was getting into...). That sounded fascinating to me, and the movie was beautifully shot and acted. But then. Then there was a scene when the Library of Alexandria is stormed by fanatics Christians and they burn everyt...

There's not much out there about Hypatia of Alexandria and what there is isn't world class. Kind of understandable considering what's left of her work and her life. But reading this "novel," got me as close to her as I ever expect to get. This is a wonderful book and though it might differ from the scanty research done by dubious scholars, I get the feeling that the rational and emotional jumps made by Longfellow are more Hypatia than any dry biased account could ever be. I'm also annoyed that a...

I saw the movie Agora and even though it wasn't quite the best movie I've seen, I became fascinated by the lead character, Hypatia of Alexandria. So I went looking for a book about her and this is what I found. Finding this book alone was worth sitting through the overlong Agora. I don't know my history but it seems the writer does, and the way she presents it is so alive. The book's vitality crackles. The city, the huge conflict as the Christian church seeks to dominate all minds, the disintigr...

There's not much out there about Hypatia of Alexandria and what there is isn't world class. Kind of understandable considering what's left of her work and her life. But reading this "novel," got me as close to her as I ever expect to get. This is a wonderful book and though it might differ from the scanty research done by (perhaps) dubious scholars, I get the feeling that the rational and emotional jumps made by Longfellow are more Hypatia than any dry biased account could ever be. I'm also anno...

After reading The Secret Magdalene last March, I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer depth of the story she presented to me. Not just the depth of the story, but also the beauty of her language, the solid composition of the book thrilled me. Having read her latest novel, Flow Down Like Silver, Hypatia of Alexandria, I know that The Secret Magdalene was not a one-time high. This lady - I'm referring to the author now - contains gold and I can only hope that she's given the perseverance and th...

More of the rich storytelling and compelling research that Ki Longfellow brought to her previous book, "The Secret Magdalene". Unlike "Magdalene", "Flow Down Like Silver" is told through, not one, but several 1st-person witnesses - Hypatia herself, plus intimates and acquaintances of the legendary mathematician/philosopher during the latter half of her life. This approach tempers a bit of the reader's emotional empathy for the principal character, offering in its place the intimate perceptions o...

Another wonderful book from Longfellow who wrote The Secret Magdalene A Novel. This one is set in the 4th and 5th century in Alexandria Egypt when Christianity is the state religion of Rome. But all over the Empire Hellenists still teach and ancient religions still compete for the minds of the people. Hypatia of Alexandria was one of the last of the great early mathematicians and hilosophers with complete access to what still remained of the Great Library of Alexandria. This is a fast racy tale ...

Hypatia lived sixteen centuries ago. This was a woman who should be better known and much better respected than Cleopatra and certainly Nefertiti. She was a genius and a beauty and the last great teacher of what we call Paganism in all that was left of the Great Library of Alexandria. I grabbed this book as soon as I knew the subject, but I would have read it eaqerly anyway since I was changed by Longfellow's The Secret Magdalene A Novel...more than a read, an experience. And here she's done it ...

Ever since I finished The Secret Magdalene, I've been waiting for the second in this writer's trilogy of the Divine Feminine. The Secret Magdalene stunned me. It took me places few books go. So obviously I was one of the first to get this book and to read it, or at least the first to review it here. {author:Ki Longfellow]'s first book was about Mary Magdalene, but not the Magdalene who's been so abused for so long. Flow Down Like Silver takes place 350 years later in the city of Alexandria, Egyp...