An Evening With Mary Morris, Author Of Gateway To The Moon

Titled Gateway to the Moon, the novel is quintessential Morris: intimate in scale but expansive in its emotional reach. Best known for her award-winning works such as The Jazz Palace and Nothing to Declare, Morris returns with a gripping, layered story that blends the elements of historical fiction, mystery and a deeply personal search for identity. On Wednesday, June 11th, 2025 at 7:00 p.m., Morris will read from the novel, discuss her inspirations and reflect on the historical undercurrents that inform the narrative.

The evening will also feature a musical performance by Susana Behar, a renowned Miami-based singer whose work in Sephardic and Latin American folk music weaves beautifully into the novel’s themes of memory, exile and rediscovery. Behar, whose textured vocals and passion for storytelling through song have earned her critical acclaim, will offer a poignant complement to Morris’s prose. Her presence adds a sensory richness to the event—one that mirrors the emotional and historical resonance of the novel itself.

Gateway to the Moon centers on Laura, an artist at a personal and creative crossroads, who is haunted by the disappearance of her mother, Viola, three decades earlier. Viola vanished one day without warning, leaving behind only her purse, keys and a collection of eerie paintings featuring a red house—each inscribed with the cryptic message, “I will not be here forever.” This mysterious legacy propels Laura back to Italy, the place of her mother’s early life and the backdrop of long-buried family secrets.

What follows is a moving and suspenseful journey as Laura travels from the coastal town of Brindisi through the Puglia countryside, tracing the fragments of Viola’s life. As she uncovers hidden details of her mother’s past—including her silence about her wartime childhood and her insistence that she was an orphan—Laura begins to see the ways in which history, particularly Italy’s lesser-known experiences during World War II, has shaped her family’s trajectory.

In a recent interview, Morris explained that the story was inspired by both personal and historical curiosities. “I’ve always been fascinated by what we inherit—not just genetically, but emotionally, artistically, historically,” she said. “This novel is about a daughter trying to make sense of the silence her mother left behind. In doing so, she comes to understand not only who her mother was, but who she herself is.”

Indeed, Gateway to the Moon is as much about solving a mystery as it is about grappling with identity and legacy. Morris’s depiction of post-war Italy is textured and immersive, evoking the sensory details of village life and the shadow of conflict that lingers across generations. The novel’s emotional resonance lies in its willingness to explore loss—not only of people, but of memory, language and connection.

As readers follow Laura north through Naples and Turin, the red house in Viola’s paintings becomes both a literal and metaphorical destination. It is a symbol of the past that cannot be undone but can be understood. Morris's writing is at once lyrical and grounded, full of psychological depth and historical insight.

The event at Books & Books will offer attendees a rare opportunity to hear directly from Morris about her creative process and the years of research that shaped the novel. With Behar’s music infusing the evening with the emotional tone of the story’s Mediterranean setting, the night promises to be an evocative celebration of art in its many forms.

For those who have followed Mary Morris’s career, this latest novel confirms her as a master of storytelling with a gift for weaving personal drama into the fabric of history. And for new readers, Gateway to the Moon is an invitation into a world where the past is never quite past and where love—though complicated—is the ultimate inheritance.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, June 11th, 2025

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables, Florida 33134

Special Musical Performance: Susana Behar

For more information about the event, contact Books & Books at: (305) 442-4408.