~ Press release provided by Laurel Ridge Community College
LURAY — Laurel Ridge Community College English Professor Margaret “Maggie” Marangione will be at the Luray-Page County Center on Thursday, July 13. She will be reading from her debut novel, “Across the Blue Ridge Mountains,” and taking questions at the event, which starts at 5 p.m.
“Across the Blue Ridge Mountains” tells the story of Mary, a young woman who, after leaving her abusive mother, eventually ends up with a mountain family in Elkton. There, she is healed and empowered, but faces adversity when the federal government begins removing families from their homes in order to create Shenandoah National Park.
“She experiences and fights the removals,” said Professor Marangione, who as an adjunct teaches English composition and Appalachian literature classes at Laurel Ridge, while working full time for Blue Ridge Community College. “One winter morning, the voice of my protagonist Mary just kind of channeled right through and I started writing.”
Her novel was published last August, and since then, she has been interviewed by radio and print journalists, been invited to numerous book clubs and given a lecture at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture in Richmond.
“Response has been very encouraging,” Professor Marangione, who has also published academic articles, said. “People feel really immersed in the story and the characters.”
Learn more about the event and RSVP
at laurelridge.edu/meettheauthor,
or by calling (540) 843-0722.
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