Author Profile
Books
Until the Darkness Goes
Literature & Fiction
Molly Morris is a 42-year-old, headstrong Jewish New Yorker who has had it with her family's conventional middle-class values. She flees to Long Beach, California to begin a vibrant new life far from her critical mother. There, she finds love with Javier, an attractive Mexican auto mechanic who invites her into his life, his culture and his close-knit family. Life is good...very good...until tragedy strikes and Molly's grief and self-recrimination plunge her into depression and drug addiction. Bold, frank and void of sentimentality, Until the Darkness Goes explores Molly's vulnerabilities, her search for meaning in the face of tragedy, and ultimately her return to a sense of purpose in the most unexpected way.
Book Bubbles from Until the Darkness Goes
Back to School
Molly's love of teaching is only eclipsed by her love for her baby, Stella. They reside next to one another, these two passions. Teaching history and the truths it reveals has always been her mantra. She is more than a little rebellious in her teaching technique and the kids love her for it. Mostly Latino and Black, these students come alive in her classes. They read and do their homework, many with a new enthusiasm, because their teacher is honest about their country, their precarious democracy that is still the best form of government. She loses this experience when drugs take over her life.
Reviewer's Comments
Excellent character study in this emotional journey of a woman spiraling into depression and addiction dealing with the loss of her child. Falling into the pit of darkness and learning a way to begin to climb back out, Molly explores her pain, her escapism and downfall, using her mother, the baby's father Javier and the responsibility of her new foster son, Nugent. Reconnecting with her mother helps her discover a hidden family secret giving her hope she may recover her path back to sanity and sobriety.
Carry on your Travels: Interview
If you're traveling this summer, try taking this summer read along with you. The book is long enough to read on the beach and slim enough to fit into your backpack or carry-on. Try checking out the website to hear an interview with Andrea Garrison. Click on the link: www.darknessgoes.com There you can click on Media to review all or parts of a live radio broadcast. The interview with the author is a lively discussion about the novel and its origin. You can also learn more about the author and some little known history of how famous writers got their start. Be sure to check in to the website and to listen to the interview with Renee on Andreaonline radio.
Another side of Esther
We see mostly through Molly's eyes as we hear caustic and tense conversation between Esther and Molly. The push and pull might be attributed to Esther wanting to control her daughter's future and disappointed with Molly's choice to leave the young Orthopedic Resident in Boston for a life in California. But as much as Esther is on a learning curve about what motivates her daughter, Molly learns a few lessons of her own. She finally sees her mother as a fragile, older woman, a widow living alone. And then Esther shares her own story with Molly.
