Ma Li & Mary / Graffagnino, J. A.

A bet between a demon and an angel created the existence of Ma Li, a fifteenth-century warrior priestess, and Mary, a twentieth-century Taoist priestess. The trials and experiences these two women endured, the battles they fought, and the people they met in their travels were merely guideposts along their preordained path. Separated by five centuries, the connection they shared survived and strengthened. Both women learned and grew from their spiritual bond. Ma Li Chin's father, a brilliant general and friend of China's Emperor, and her mother, a favorite in the emperor's court, were betrayed by a vengeful and jealous officer in the court. Her parents were killed, and Ma Li had to flee for her life. Mary Petrovich's mother was a Sioux Indian cryptologist working for the US government in Moscow, and her Russian Secret Police father was forced to flee to Chicago to escape Soviet and American government agents in the 1980s. They took refuge with her uncle, a crazed, sadistic gangster. He murdered her parents and repeatedly beat and raped her before she escaped at the age of twelve. Both Ma Li and Mary entered the same Taoist temple in China where they were taught not only to survive but also to become skilled in martial arts. They learned that they could help each other and learn and grow from each other. Both women had motivating forces that kept them going, to beat all their enemies and to survive to do battle another day. Their driving force was to avenge and to obtain justice for their families. The story of Ma Li and Mary is one of love, loyalty, betrayal, and survival at all costs. Each had to fight her own battles, but each knew she had a sister she could count on.