Monday, March 09, 2009

The Passion of Mary-Margaret


This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

The Passion of Mary Margaret

Thomas Nelson (March 10, 2009)

by

Lisa Samson



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa Samson is a Christy Award-winning author of 19 books, including the Women of the Faith Novel of the Year, Quaker Summer. Lisa has been hailed by Publishers Weekly as "a talented novelist who isn't afraid to take risks."

Her novel Embrace Me has been named as one of Library Journal's books of the year.

She lives in Lexinton, Kentucky, with her husband and three kids.

She stays busy by writing, volunteering at Kentucky Refugee Ministries, raising children and trying to be supportive of a husband in seminary. (Trying...some days she's downright awful. It's a good thing he's such a fabulous cook!) She can tell you one thing, it's never dull around there.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Mary-Margaret accepts a calling that surpasses her wildest dreams . . . and challenges her deep faith.

When Mary-Margaret Danaher met Jude Keller, the lightkeeper's son, she was studying at convent school on a small island in the Chesapeake Bay. Destined for a life as a religious sister, she nevertheless felt a pull toward Jude-rough and tumble, promiscuous Jude.

After sojourning as a medical missions sister in Swaziland, Mary-Margaret returns to the island to prepare for her final vows. Jude, too, returns to the island, dissolute and hardened. Mary-Margaret can hardly believe it when the Spirit tells her she must marry the troubled boy who befriended her all those years ago, forsaking the only life she ever wanted for a man she knows she'll never love.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Passion of Mary Margaret , go HERE

Pattie's Review:

Wow. What a story. What a book!

As I was mulling over what to write in my review the other day, I was thinking about authors and how they are known. I believe this is part of the branding process. With some authors, you know what you're getting. With John Grisham, you're getting a great legal thriller without all the gore and vulgarity you might find elsewhere. With Karen Kingsbury, you're pretty much guaranteed an encouraging (yet tearjerking) story. With Jodi Picoult, you're getting a story involving a family in turmoil over an issue straight from the headlines.

With Lisa Samson, you are getting a book that is spiritual, focuses on Christ, and makes you think differently about an issue that might seem cut-and-dried, but isn't after she turns it inside-out and upside-down.

The Passion of Mary-Margaret has given me much to ponder and think about, not just about Catholicism (and being a military chaplain's wife, I'm more ecumenical now than I used to be and more open to learning about other faiths), and not even about Christian mysticism and contemplation. More about how Mary-Margaret's relationship with Jesus is played out throughout the story.

This is a book that I am happy to recommend. It isn't anything like I've read before, and it most definitely is not a "typical" Christian novel. (And yes, like Karen Kingsbury, Lisa Samson makes me cry!)

I am going to be keeping this one, and am loaning it out to a new friend.

1 comment:

Dianne said...

I always enjoy Lisa's writing. I'll have to check this one out.