{"product_id":"the-red-house-isbn-9780385544986","title":"The Red House","description":"\u003cb\u003eAward-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.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThirty years ago, Laura’s 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, “I will not be here forever.” The family never understood what Viola meant. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDecades 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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Italy, Laura finds herself on a strange scavenger hunt to solve the puzzle of her mother’s lost years. She is certain that the paintings of the red house hold the answer to her mother’s 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 Italy’s Second World War.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBlending elements of true crime with settings that evoke Elena Ferrante, Laura follows her mother’s 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.\u003cb\u003eOne of Oprah Daily's Best Summer Reads of 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeople Magazine's \"book of the week\" pick May 12, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“You know, when you read Mary Morris, that you will get exquisite writing and vibrant world-building and people that break your heart. But \u003ci\u003eThe Red House\u003c\/i\u003e is even more unforgettable - a mystery of time, place, and character that reveals how the gaps in our personal histories are the ones that somehow become the building blocks of our lives.” \u003cb\u003e--Jodi Picoult, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eBy Any Other Name\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In \u003ci\u003eThe Red House\u003c\/i\u003e, Mary Morris transports readers from the sunlit landscapes of Italy to the shadows of its wartime past as she traces the haunting legacy of a mother’s disappearance. With her life at a crossroads, Laura returns to her mother’s homeland to uncover secrets buried for decades – secrets that will redefine her family history. As past and present converge, Laura’s search becomes both a gripping quest and a profound exploration of how trauma can echo across generations. This mesmerizing, beautifully layered novel maps the geography of loss with devastating precision.” \u003cb\u003e—Christina Baker Kline, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eOrphan Train\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Red House \u003c\/i\u003eis an enthralling investigation into wartime histories endured, concealed, and recovered within one Italian-American family. Mary Morris remains a literary conjurer of the highest order: in her pages the past, in all its complication and mystery, comes roaring back to life.” \u003cb\u003e--Anthony Marra, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eMercury Pictures Presents\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A stunning, atmospheric tale of layered secrets and heartbreaking history. This book blew me away and is sure to impress even the most discerning historical fiction lover.\" \u003cb\u003e--Kelly Rimmer, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Paris Agent\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“[An] elegant mosaic. . . .The expertly woven plotlines raise more questions than they answer. . . .The result is an unusual and satisfying tale of family secrets.” \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Publishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003eA poignant and lyrical story\" \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The Red House\u003c\/i\u003e is a wonderful novel—suspenseful and surprising—with history at its heart. Investigating a painful family mystery—the decades-old disappearance of a mother—leads us into a small town in Puglia and its buried past under fascism. A riveting story.\" \u003cb\u003e—Joan Silber, author of \u003ci\u003eSecrets of Happiness \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eImprovement\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Mary Morris writes beautifully about family history, and this book about a daughter’s search for her mother’s past is full of beautiful detail and emotional insight. Brava!\" \u003cb\u003e--Roxana Robinson, author of \u003ci\u003eLeaving\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"The Red House \u003c\/i\u003eis a wonderful mix of history and mystery. The dual voices tell a compelling and deeply moving story.\" \u003cb\u003e--Hilma Wolitzer, author of \u003ci\u003eAn Available Man\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"A penetrating psychological narrative . . . Morris provides a clear and strong perspective on the insidiousness of secrecy. . . riveting.\" \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Hadassah\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Morris brings to life the beauty of Italy and the horrors in the Red House.\" \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Booklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eMARY MORRIS is the author of numerous works of fiction, including the novels \u003ci\u003eGateway to the Moon\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Jazz Palace\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Mother's Love\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eHouse Arrest\u003c\/i\u003e, and of nonfiction, including the travel classic \u003ci\u003eNothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone\u003c\/i\u003e. Morris is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature and the 2016 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.","brand":"Doubleday","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304201900261,"sku":"NP9780385544986","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780385544986.jpg?v=1767741193","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-red-house-isbn-9780385544986","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}