My latest novel releases in March!
Library Journal liked it!
Samson, Lisa. The Passion of Mary-Margaret. Thomas Nelson. Mar. 2009. c.320p. ISBN 978-1-59554-211-3. pap. $14.99. CF Mary-Margaret Fischer grew up on a small island in the Chesapeake
Bay, believing she was conceived from rape. Her mother, a Catholic
schoolteacher, died giving birth to her. Mary-Margaret wants to enter
the convent, but a small voice tells her that her destiny is not to
take her final vows, but instead to marry the less-than-proper Jude
Keller, the lighthouse keeper's son. Christy Award winner Samson (Embrace Me; Tiger Lillie)
spins a convincing tale about the plans we make for our lives and how
God often has other ideas. Well written and enjoyable, this title will
appeal to readers who appreciate intelligent fiction with a spiritual
element. Recommended for CF and women's fiction collections.
A starred review from Publisher's Weekly Magazine too. Very nice!
*The Passion of Mary-Margaret* Lisa Samson. Thomas Nelson, $14.99 paper
(320p) ISBN 978-1-59554-211-3
Samson (/Quaker Summer/) mixes quirky with mysticism, seasons it with social justice, and the result is a page-turner with characters so fresh, funny and indelible the reader wants another 50 pages or so, please. Samson envisions a Jesus even an atheist would enjoy talking to, a Jesus whom the titular Mary-Margaret Fischer, a religious sister, talks to and gets direction from, as mystics quite naturally do. An even more compelling figure than Jesus, or at least someone with more lines and hence more characterization, is Mary-Margaret's childhood friend, Jude Keller, a ne'er-do-well with a soul needing saving encased in a body so good-looking it's hard for a body to resist. The required Christian progression to redemption is a natural in this story that slips between past and present—somewhat confusingly at first—and ranges from Maryland to Africa. The plot holds a few surprises that make some of the final, far-flung episodes more narratively and theologically
satisfying. Quirk works; this is a deeply engaging book deserving of a broad audience. /(Mar.)