Fans (and you know who you are) of the Maeve Chronicles, Elizabeth Cunningham's series of novels that combine scholorship, whimsy, and delectable fiction to relate the life, times, and spiritual journey of a Celtic Mary Magdalene, named Maeve, may meet the author and hear her read from her latest, Bright Dark Madonna on Friday evening, April 3, at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck. For those new to Cunningham's work, it is, by all accounts, unnecessary to have read her two previous Maeve novels, Magdalen Rising and The Passion of Mary Magdalen, to get swept away by this latest in the series, which takes the reader on a breathtaking journey from the temple porticoes of Jerusalem, to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, to the south of France, and, as always, to the treacherous terrain of the human heart. There will be time to catch up later, since Cunningham, a direct descendant of nine generations of Episcopal priests and herself an ordained interfaith minister at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, balances writing with a counseling practice. Hence, it's likely to be a while before the author, who lives in Staatsburg, is able to produce the fourth Maeve that the end of this book suggests might be forthcoming. Elizabeth Cunningham Reading and Book SigningFriday, April 3rd, 7:30 p.m. Oblong Books & Music6422 Montgomery Street; Suite 6 Rhinebeck; 845.876.0500
