SPIRITUAL FOCUS ON BOOKS October 29, 2007 Issue

FROM THE MUDHOUSE TO THE SCHOOLHOUSE

KIM SHIPPEY, SENIOR WRITER

LAUREN WINNER FANS may not immediately recognize her voice and style in her latest book, The Voice of Matthew. As one online observer complained: "This is not at all like Winner's previous books. It's a collaborative effort, and the religious politics are unclear. I should have returned it."

Yes, but Winner has moved on since those exhilarating tours promoting Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath, and her book on the virtues of chastity. Those readers who, like that online correspondent, mourn the loss of her restless, spunky voice, might instead delight in the evidence of sturdy spiritual growth that clearly underpins this scholarly venture. Winner has now completed her doctorate in the history of American religion, had the tattoo on her arm recolored, and gotten married.

It took just three books for Winner, who was raised Jewish and converted to Christianity as a young adult, to command a loyal following. knee-deep in both traditions, she wrote honest, literate accounts of her spiritual pilgrimage with irrepressible enthusiasm and down-to-earth humor. Many of her observations sprang from hours spent interacting with people in the Mudhouse, a coffee shop in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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