"If you haven’t read Mary Morris yet, start here. Now. Immediately."
—Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things
From award-winning novelist Mary Morris comes the remarkable story of a remote New Mexican town coming to grips with a dark history it never imagined.
In 1492, the Jewish and Muslim populations of Spain were expelled, and Columbus set sail for America. Luis de Torres, a Spanish Jew, accompanies Columbus as his interpreter. His journey is only the beginning of a long migration, across many generations. Over the centuries, de Torres’ descendants travel from Spain and Portugal to Mexico, finally settling in the hills of New Mexico. Five hundred years later, it is in these same hills that Miguel Torres, a young amateur astronomer, finds himself trying to understand the mystery that surrounds him and the town he grew up in.
Entrada de la Luna is a place that holds a profound secret--one that its residents cannot even imagine. It is also a place that ambitious children, such as Miguel, try to leave. Poor health, broken marriages, and poverty are the norm. Luck is unusual. When Miguel sees a flyer for a babysitting job, he jumps at the opportunity, and begins work for a Jewish family new to the area. Rachel Rothstein is not the sort of parent Miguel expected. A frustrated artist, Rachel moved her family from New York in search of a fresh start, but so far New Mexico has not solved any of the problems she brought with her. Miguel loves the work, yet he is surprised to find many of the Rothstein family's customs similar to ones he’s grown up with and never understood.
Interwoven throughout the present-day narrative are the powerful stories of the ancestors of Entrada's residents, highlighting the torture, pursuit, and resistance of the Jewish people. A beautiful novel of shared history, Gateway to the Moon is a moving and memorable portrait of a family and its journey through the centuries.
Genre: Historical
—Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things
From award-winning novelist Mary Morris comes the remarkable story of a remote New Mexican town coming to grips with a dark history it never imagined.
In 1492, the Jewish and Muslim populations of Spain were expelled, and Columbus set sail for America. Luis de Torres, a Spanish Jew, accompanies Columbus as his interpreter. His journey is only the beginning of a long migration, across many generations. Over the centuries, de Torres’ descendants travel from Spain and Portugal to Mexico, finally settling in the hills of New Mexico. Five hundred years later, it is in these same hills that Miguel Torres, a young amateur astronomer, finds himself trying to understand the mystery that surrounds him and the town he grew up in.
Entrada de la Luna is a place that holds a profound secret--one that its residents cannot even imagine. It is also a place that ambitious children, such as Miguel, try to leave. Poor health, broken marriages, and poverty are the norm. Luck is unusual. When Miguel sees a flyer for a babysitting job, he jumps at the opportunity, and begins work for a Jewish family new to the area. Rachel Rothstein is not the sort of parent Miguel expected. A frustrated artist, Rachel moved her family from New York in search of a fresh start, but so far New Mexico has not solved any of the problems she brought with her. Miguel loves the work, yet he is surprised to find many of the Rothstein family's customs similar to ones he’s grown up with and never understood.
Interwoven throughout the present-day narrative are the powerful stories of the ancestors of Entrada's residents, highlighting the torture, pursuit, and resistance of the Jewish people. A beautiful novel of shared history, Gateway to the Moon is a moving and memorable portrait of a family and its journey through the centuries.
Genre: Historical
Praise for this book
"This exquisitely written novel suggests both the vastness and the intimacy of time--the ways in which the lives of the past echo in the lives of the living, whether we know it or not. A richly rewarding reading experience!" - Dan Chaon
"Written in prose like music, with stories connecting like fugues, Morris follows her characters through time, through space, and through horrors and toward love. From Columbus to the Spanish Inquisition to modern day New Mexico and the Voyager spacecraft, this is a work so luminous, so important, that you could see it as a map of the way to live in our universe. A writer is not supposed to be at a loss for words, but nothing can describe the extraordinary experience of this novel. A dazzling masterpiece destined to be a classic." - Caroline Leavitt
"I have been spoiled by Mary Morris’s writing--her rich storytelling woven with poetry--for years, but this latest novel brings me to a whole new level of awe. Gateway to the Moon is a story about exploration--between the past and the present, between faith and truth, between the heavens and the earth. If you haven’t read Mary Morris yet, start here. Now. Immediately." - Jodi Picoult
"Mary Morris, braids a vivid and surprising narrative, bringing together little-known history with little-known landscapes to produce a fascinating story of immigration, faith and family. Brava." - Roxana Robinson
"Engrossing, richly textured, and spanning centuries with deftness and ease, Gateway to the Moon is Mary Morris’s most ambitious and best novel yet. It’s thrilling to watch as such a well-established novelist sets forth like an explorer into new territory and makes it all her own." - Dani Shapiro
"It’s a great joy when a novel so rich in history is also a total page-turner. Gateway to the Moon connects and illuminates, as we see the centuries-long trail of those who survived the Spanish Inquisition through disguise and adaptation. A wonderful book, remarkable in its knowledge and a terrific story." - Joan Silber
"Written in prose like music, with stories connecting like fugues, Morris follows her characters through time, through space, and through horrors and toward love. From Columbus to the Spanish Inquisition to modern day New Mexico and the Voyager spacecraft, this is a work so luminous, so important, that you could see it as a map of the way to live in our universe. A writer is not supposed to be at a loss for words, but nothing can describe the extraordinary experience of this novel. A dazzling masterpiece destined to be a classic." - Caroline Leavitt
"I have been spoiled by Mary Morris’s writing--her rich storytelling woven with poetry--for years, but this latest novel brings me to a whole new level of awe. Gateway to the Moon is a story about exploration--between the past and the present, between faith and truth, between the heavens and the earth. If you haven’t read Mary Morris yet, start here. Now. Immediately." - Jodi Picoult
"Mary Morris, braids a vivid and surprising narrative, bringing together little-known history with little-known landscapes to produce a fascinating story of immigration, faith and family. Brava." - Roxana Robinson
"Engrossing, richly textured, and spanning centuries with deftness and ease, Gateway to the Moon is Mary Morris’s most ambitious and best novel yet. It’s thrilling to watch as such a well-established novelist sets forth like an explorer into new territory and makes it all her own." - Dani Shapiro
"It’s a great joy when a novel so rich in history is also a total page-turner. Gateway to the Moon connects and illuminates, as we see the centuries-long trail of those who survived the Spanish Inquisition through disguise and adaptation. A wonderful book, remarkable in its knowledge and a terrific story." - Joan Silber
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