Book
The red house : a novel / Mary Morris.
"Award-winning novelist Mary Morris weaves together an unsolved family mystery, a poignant coming of age story, and a little-known corner of World War II history in this lyrical novel of family, art, and love. Thirty years ago, Laura's mother, Viola, went missing. She left behind her purse, her jewelery, her strangely compelling paintings, and her insulin. Viola never returned, and her family never recovered. Decades later, at a crossroads in her marriage, Laura returns to Italy, where her parents met after World War II and where Laura spent the earliest years of her childhood, in an attempt to uncover the past her mother refused to speak about after the family moved to New Jersey and settled into the American dream. As Laura retraces her mother's path from her girlhood in Turin to wartorn Naples, following the few puzzle pieces she has to go on, she uncovers fragments of Viola's story which interweave with Laura's own investigation. As Laura reconnects with old neighbors and her mother's wartime compatriots, she uncovers a shadowy local legend in her search for answers: the Red House, one of Italy's Jewish internment camps, where Viola spent part of the war, and which become the repeat subject of her most arresting paintings. Mary Morris brings a family and a forgotten moment in history to vivid life with thought-provoking, sensitively wrought prose, as seen through Laura and Viola's eyes"-- Provided by publisher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780385544986 (hardcover)
- Physical Description: 286 pages ; 25 cm
- Edition: First Doubleday hardcover edition.
- Publisher: New York : Doubleday, 2025.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Internment camps > Italy > Fiction. Missing persons > Fiction. Mothers and daughters > Fiction. World War, 1939-1945 > Italy > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Historical fiction. Novels. |
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore Branch | FIC Morri | 31681010419000 | FICTION | Available | - |
- Baker & Taylor
"Award-winning novelist Mary Morris weaves together an unsolved family mystery, a poignant coming of age story, and a little-known corner of World War II history in this lyrical novel of family, art, and love. Thirty years ago, Laura's mother, Viola, went missing. She left behind her purse, her jewelery, her strangely compelling paintings, and her insulin. Viola never returned, and her family never recovered. Decades later, at a crossroads in her marriage, Laura returns to Italy, where her parents met after World War II and where Laura spent the earliest years of her childhood, in an attempt to uncover the past her mother refused to speak about after the family moved to New Jersey and settled into the American dream. As Laura retraces her mother's path from her girlhood in Turin to wartorn Naples, following the few puzzle pieces she has to go on, she uncovers fragments of Viola's story which interweave with Laura's own investigation. As Laura reconnects with old neighbors and her mother's wartime compatriots, she uncovers a shadowy local legend in her search for answers: the Red House, one of Italy's Jewish internment camps, where Viola spent part of the war, and which become the repeat subject of her most arresting paintings. Mary Morris brings a familyand a forgotten moment in history to vivid life with thought-provoking, sensitively wrought prose, as seen through Laura and Viola's eyes"-- - Baker & Taylor
Thirty years after her mother Viola's mysterious disappearance, Laura returns to Italy to unravel secrets hidden in her motherâs cryptic paintings and enigmatic past, uncovering forgotten World War II history and truths that reshape her understanding of family and identity. - Random House, Inc.
Award-winning novelist Mary Morris weaves together an unsolved family mystery, a poignant coming-of-age story, and a little-known corner of World War II history in this lyrical novel of family, loss and, ultimately, love.
Thirty years ago, Lauraâs mother, Viola, went missing. She left behind her purse, her keys and her mysterious paintings of a red house. Viola was never found, and her family never recovered. Laura, an artist herself, held on to the paintings. On the back of each work, her mother scrawled in Italian, âI will not be here forever.â The family never understood what Viola meant.Â
Decades later, at a crossroads in her marriage and her life, Laura returns to Italy, where her parents met after World War II. Laura spent the earliest years of her childhood there before the family moved to New Jersey and settled into an American dream that eventually became a nightmare. Viola, who claimed to be an orphan, staunchly refused to speak of her life before marriage.Â
In Italy, Laura finds herself on a strange scavenger hunt to solve the puzzle of her motherâs lost years. She is certain that the paintings of the red house hold the answer to her motherâs past and her search takes her from her hometown of Brindisi, deep into Puglia where she encounters a man who knew her mother and who illuminates little-known secrets of Italyâs Second World War. Â
Blending elements of true crime with settings that evoke Elena Ferrante, Laura follows her motherâs trajectory as she ventures north to Naples, Turin and finally home. Along the way, she confronts the dark truth of her mother's story and at last makes sense of her own.
