Red Robed Priestess by Elizabeth Cunningham – A Visionary Fiction Alliance Book Review by Jodine Turner

Elizabeth is a modern day Celtic Bard whose words flow like milk and honey. When I was reading Red Robed Priestess, my husband asked me why I was smiling. Two reasons – first, each word felt like nourishing soul food; second, there was Maeve’s dry wit, the kind that makes you laugh out loud.

Red Robed Priestess is the fourth and final installment in Maeve’s story, the life of Mary Magdalen. But be advised, Maeve is definitely not your mother’s Mary Magdalen, nor is she the Magdalen we meet in contemporary novels. Maeve is born of eight warrior witches in the Celtic Otherworld. She’s unabashedly honest. And unorthodox as well as fearless. Not so much the kind of fearless that stems from obligation or duty. It’s more the kind that is sourced in her unapologetic authenticity, as well as in her body. Her raw truth both inspires and scares me. Could I ever aspire to stand up for those I love the way she did? I certainly learned from her.

Not surprisingly, Elizabeth’s novel appealed to me, given that my own published novels incorporate Celtic tradition and lore, as well as the themes of embodied love that comes from the sacred union of the divine masculine and divine feminine within. But beyond these similar passions, Elizabeth and Maeve (hard to keep them apart in one sentence) will transport you to other worlds. To the Celtic Otherworld, to Roman occupied Britain, as well as to the world of deep emotion, and the complexity of human relationships. The world of love eternal. Be prepared for a poignant exploration of mother daughter bonds, and how you can find love in the most surprising people and circumstances.