Ella Morris (novel)
| Company type | Novel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Literature |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | John David Morley |
| Products | Book |
Ella Morris represents the tenth literary work by John David Morley, focusing on the Morris family amid the dramatic transformations Europe underwent throughout the twentieth century. The narrative centers on Ella, the family’s matriarch; her spouse George, a British civil servant with Hungarian heritage; her younger French partner Claude de Marsay; and their four children, all of whom confront a continent profoundly influenced by the aftermath of World War II.
Ella Andrzejewski, born in Berlin shortly before Hitler’s ascent to power, was forced to flee due to the advancing Red Army in 1945 and endured violence at their hands. This experience mirrors that of Nadine, an Austrian woman of Albanian origin, whom Ella’s son Alex meets and falls in love with during the Yugoslav Wars.
Summary
Ella enjoys a joyful early life before becoming a World War II refugee who escapes to England. There, she marries George Morris and has three children with him alongside one child fathered by Claude de Marsay. The unconventional three-way relationship initiated in London persists after the family moves to Tenerife. Ella is employed in the environmental division of local government, while George authors thrillers drawing on his Foreign Office and MI6 experience. Claude returns after a six-year tenure in Japan to take up a teaching position at the University of La Laguna.
A concurrent storyline set in the 1990s follows Alex, Ella’s son with Claude, as he reports on conflicts in the former Yugoslavia as a war correspondent. Another narrative thread focuses on Max, Ella’s eldest son by George. With Ella as the pivotal character, these interwoven tales transition from a family chronicle to an examination of ecological degradation. Ultimately, Ella Morris depicts a woman’s enduring strength through chaos and her unwavering dedication to humanity despite hardships.
Reception
In The Times, Kate Saunders acclaimed Ella Morris as a monumental work of contemporary literature: “This is not merely large; it is colossal. It spans roughly a third of Proust and falls just short of War and Peace in length. The novel’s extensive scope was necessary to realize John David Morley’s ambitious design—a complex family epic set against the layered history of the twentieth century… The narrative unfolds at a deliberate yet engaging pace; its breadth is truly impressive.” Tribune described the book as “virtually a masterpiece… This Tolstoyan novel probes what it means to embody both English and European identities during the twentieth century."