Author Mark Jamilkowski released “The Road to Moresco” about Maria-Luisa Moresco, an Italian woman who was driven to achieve her professional aspirations when others looked for a happy and healthy family and a peaceful environment to call home.

The fictional novel revolves around Moresco who was a concert pianist who spent a significant amount of time with Maria Callas. Moresco’s daughter thought of Callas as her Godmother.

In a statement to OperaWire, Jamilkowski said, “This came to me as part of a personal journey, so there are strong elements of fact, both personal and world-news historical, that provide the foundation of the story.  The inspiration came to me as I continued to ask questions, dig deeper, and uncover more interesting elements. For example, Maria-Luisa was married to Max Strub for about 13 years, starting before WW2 and ending early 1950s.  During the months following the end of the German part in WW2, they were captured by the Russian Army and tortured.  Max had to play his violin as proof of his non-political but rather artistic importance to Germany.  They were released because of his playing.”

He added, “Maria-Luisa had always been something of a child prodigy, but because of circumstances, politics, and generally multiple roadblocks never really able to get out on the international stage as Max had been able to do. Being a woman did not help her cause, especially when growing up in fascist Italy.”