PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Press contact: Linda Woznicki

Linda@monkfishpublishing.com

845-417-8811

www.monkfishpublishing.com

www.passionofmarymagdalen.com

Rhinebeck, NY, April 1, 2007: Monkfish Book Publishing Company is proud to announce the publication of Bright Dark Madonna, A Novel by Elizabeth Cunningham. The novel is the third installment of THE MAEVE CHRONICLES series which feature Cunningham’s signature heroine, Maeve, the Celtic, and unrepentant, Mary Magdalen. Bright Dark Madonna is the sequel to the popular The Passion of Mary Magdalen (2006) which won wide acclaim including a starred review from Booklist, a nomination for Book of the Year Award from ForeWord Magazine and chosen as “One of the Best Spiritual Books of 2006” by the media editors of Spirituality & Health Magazine.

Advance Praise for Bright Dark Madonna

“…scholarship, whimsy, and delectable fiction” -- Susan Corso, Huffington Post and Ode Magazine

“… plenty of juicy controversy embodied by vivid characters and expressed in vigorous action, all in crisply drawn biblical settings.”—Booklist

“Elizabeth Cunningham has again delved into her fabulous treasure trove of impeccable research, and come up with gold.” —Katherine Neville, author of The Eight and The Fire

" Reading Bright Dark Madonna is a sheer joy." —Tom Cowan, author of Fire in the Head: Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit

"Powerful, moving, hilariously funny, a brilliant blend of paganism and Christianity…”

—Mary Swander, author of The Desert Pilgrim: En Route to Mysticism and Miracles

“The best one yet!”—Catherine MacCoun, author of On Becoming an Alchemist

2009 NATIONAL TOUR CITIES TO DATE: San Francisco, CA, San Deigo, CA, Santa Cruz, CA, Palo Alto, CA, Santa Fe, NM, Sedona AZ, Asheville, NC, Chapel Hill, NC, New York City, Upstate NY, Butler, NJ, Toronto,

Story line: After playing an intimate role in the mystery of the Resurrection, what is left for Maeve, the Celtic Mary Magdalen? Never a follower, will she emerge as a leader of the early church? Will she retire quietly to mother a sacred bloodline? Will she set sail for France to proselytize and go spelunking? The answer: all and none of the above. No sooner does Maeve open her mouth to preach the gospel her way, than a fierce debate begins about what to do with the child she is carrying. Maeve has her own ideas about where best to raise the savior’s scion. When she returns to Temple Magdalen, the holy whorehouse she founded, a custody battle of Biblical proportions ensues. Maeve, her infant daughter Sarah, and Jesus’s mother flee to the remote Taurus Mountains where they live in hiding among the Galatians until a mysterious man is dumped on their doorstep more dead than alive. When Maeve discovers the identity of the man she has healed, she is appalled and determined to keep her family’s secret. But Maeve has reckoned without the will of her brilliant, angry adolescent daughter who resolves to find out the truth about her father—for herself. Required reading for fans of THE MAEVE CHRONICLES but accessible to those new to the series, Bright Dark Madonna 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: the treacherous, beautiful terrain of the human heart.

Praise for  MAGDALEN RISING: THE BEGINNING

"...this is the best book I’ve read in a decade: beautiful, witty, wise, fearless in facing the hardest issues. “ -- Ann Chamberlin, Editors' Choice, Historical Novels Review

“Destined to become a classic of womens literature.” -- Booklist, starred review

Praise for  THE PASSION OF MARY MAGDALEN

“...anyone who reads it will never approach the canon the same way again. The Passion of Mary Magdalen is a tour de force." -Episcopal Life Magazine

"The Passion offers a digestive to Mel Gibson’s film, “The Passion of the Christ,” and a fascination way beyond Dan Brown’s exploitation of this Mary’s story in The DaVinci Code." -Pages Magazine

“Magdalene fans are in for more surprises in Cunningham's classy, sexy novel.” -Booklist, starred review

“…an unforgettable fifth gospel story in which the women most involved in Jesus's ministry are given far more representation..." -Library Journal

Monkfish Book Publishing Company is an independent press in Rhinebeck, New York publishing books that combine spiritual and literary merit. Monkfish books are distributed to the trade by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution.