Gateway to the Moon by Mary Morris (Nan A. Talese, Doubleday) April 2018- In 40 words or less: Brilliant storytelling and character development propel the reader from the Spanish Inquisition/Expulsion and Columbus’s exploration to the desert of New Mexico five centuries later. Morris weaves together history, astronomy, human frailty, and the strength of family bonds across generations.
- Genre: Literary fiction/Historical fiction
- Locale: Spain, Portugal, New World, and New Mexico
- Time: 1492-1500 and 1992
- A rare novel combining two periods of discovery. Historical figures are carefully researched and noted as such in the listing of characters and families. Gateway to the Moon is also a coming of age story for a teen whose connection to the stars is his solace and path to the future.
As long as I’ve been in book groups I’ve searched for an engrossing novel that brings to life the conflicted period of Spain’s ascendancy as a world power and the injustices and horrors of the Inquisition and the Jews expulsion from Spain. Even less common are writings about those along on Columbus’s first expedition and what may have transpired with those left behind as the ships returned to Spain. Finally, there is a book that fills this void.
Mary Morris has the special hand required to mix history and historical figures with fictional characters with due respect to both. Even before Chapter 1 begins, Morris provides a framework for navigating the pathway from fact to fiction and back.
Miguel Torres has his feet in the dust of Entrada de la Luna and his eyes in the stars. A loner, he is fascinated by space and his thirst is recognized by his science teacher who works to keep him on the straight and narrow. Poverty and boredom are often the ticket to “juvie”, a brief trip Miguel has already taken. A chance sighting of an ad for someone to help with two small boys after school may be the way for Miguel to afford a better telescope and car money. Respectful of his elders, but in large measure raising himself, he’s dutiful about heading home Friday nights where his mother prepares the trailer for candle lighting.
The story shifts 500 years to 1492. Among those on Columbus’s ships as they left Spain in 1492 were linguists, navigators, and cartographers from the crypto-Jewish community who lives would have been at risk as the Inquisition and Expulsion pressures increased. Separated from their families, these men and boys held out hope they’d find a new home for themselves and their families at the end of their voyage. Through Luis de Torres, Columbus’s scribe, others on the ships and those left behind, Morris richly describes the fragmenting of families even as Columbus anticipates riches and glory.
This is a book filled with beautiful language. Descriptions provide just enough detail to conjure up pictures without detracting from the characters or plot. While Columbus and Miguel look to the stars for orientation, each of the other characters must adapt to the unexpected and does so in a fitting and natural way which isn’t easy to pull off. Chapter titles provide orientation in time and place, and the character lists and genealogy at the front of the book are there in the event the reader is momentarily distracted from the story’s flow.
The Jazz Palace, Mary Morris’s previous book set in Chicago during the early years of the 20th century, took on history, the development of jazz, discrimination, and families. While that was a big undertaking, Gateway to the Moon takes on a bigger challenge and brings it home. Whether your taste runs to coming of age stories, hidden communities or history brought to life, you will find it in Gateway to the Moon. This is an ideal book for book groups and will quickly push its way to the top of your to-be-read pile.
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