WHAT THE MOON DID
BY JESSICA BARKSDALE INCLÁN
About What the Moon Did
No matter how we try to hide our past, truth finds its way to the surface, sometimes in devastating ways.
Mary Jo Johnson has a secret.
In the summer of 1949, twelve-year-old Mary Jo is changed forever. Not understanding why, she suddenly has the attention of one of her parents’ friends, Roger Bradfield, who notices things about Mary Jo no one else ever has. In Roger’s gaze, she is special, wonderful, perfect.
But for a twelve-year-old girl, “consent” is a foreign concept, especially when it comes to a much older and more powerful man. When Mary Jo becomes pregnant, her parents protect Roger, not to mention their status in the town, and—they hope—Mary Jo’s future. Mary Jo is sent away to live with her grandmother for a time as they spin a story that will blanket all their lives with a lie.
That summer reaches into the decades as Mary Jo moves forward into her own life. Mary Jo gets married, has more children, and obtains the country club membership, nice house, and upper-middle-class trappings promised by her upbringing. But the lie never goes away, affecting not only her but generations to come. At the end, will the truth come out, or will Mary Jo take her trauma to the grave?
Told in alternating points-of view, What the Moon Did reveals the wounds that never heal and the effects on Mary Jo, her parents, her siblings, and her children, as well as the others who were shattered by the events of those hot summer months.
About Jessica Barksdale Inclán
Jessica Barksdale Inclán is the author of the poetry collection, Grim Honey, and the novel The Play’s the Thing, both published in 2021. Her other work includes the novels Her Daughter’s Eyes, The Burning Hour, and When You Believe. She teaches novel writing online for UCLA Extension and in the online MFA program for Southern New Hampshire University. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. (www.jessicabarksdaleinclan.com)
A portion of the proceeds from What the Moon Did go to Planned Parenthood, delivering vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people worldwide.
“In ‘What the Moon Did,’ decades pass, characters grow up and grow old—and some die—while secrets inch closer and closer to revelation”
“Reminiscent of the writing of Joyce Carol Oates . . . Barksdale Inclán masterfully weaves a powerful, poignant story that crawls under our skin.”
“What the Moon Did is a masterful telling of a family’s hidden tragedy and the unhealed wounds that long ripple throughout their lives.”
“The story is deeply compelling, immersing the reader in the mindsets and values of the 1950s, ’70s and the present, showing both how we get pulled into abusive cycles and how we can break free of them.”