Publication April 2, 2024-Harper Collins-Historical Fiction-368p
Book Summary
At this wondrous resort, secrets can easily be hidden in plain sight when the eye is trained on beauty.
April 1913—Belle Newbold hasn’t seen mountains for seven years—since her father died in a mining accident and her mother married gasoline magnate, Shipley Newbold. But when her stepfather’s business acquaintance, Henry Ford, invites the family on one of his famous Vagabonds camping tours, she is forced to face the hills once again—primarily in order to reunite with her future fiancé, owner of the land the Vagabonds are using for their campsite, a man she’s only met once before. It is a veritable arranged marriage, but she prefers it that way. Belle isn’t interested in love. She only wants a simple life—a family of her own and the stability of a wealthy man’s pockets. That’s what Worth Delafield has promised to give her and it’s worth facing the mountains again, the reminder of the past, and her poverty, to secure her future.
But when the Vagabonds group is invited to tour the unfinished Grove Park Inn and Belle is unexpectedly thrust into a role researching and writing about the building of the inn—a construction the locals are calling The Eighth Wonder of the World—she quickly realizes that these mountains are no different from the ones she once called home. As Belle peels back the facade of Grove Park Inn, of Worth, of the society she’s come to claim as her own, and the truth of her heart, she begins to see that perhaps her part in Grove Park’s story isn’t a coincidence after all. Perhaps it is only by watching a wonder rise from ordinary hands and mountain stone that she can finally find the strength to piece together the long-destroyed path toward who she was meant to be.
Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab
The Grove Park Inn, known in 1913 as the “eighth wonder of the world,” draws readers to Asheville, North Carolina, in the glorious Blue Ridge Mountains. Asheville’s mountain setting and fresh air has become known as the perfect place for sanatoriums for tuberculosis patients. Edwin Grove and his son-in-law, Fred Seely, are investing in an amazing hotel hoping to secure Asheville’s future by recentering the economy on tourism.
At the core of Callaway’s story is the actual building of Grove Park Inn, the plight of hundreds of laborers, and a tuberculosis pandemic. Callaway lays a solid foundation of the area’s rich history filled with well researched details walled in by Belle and Worth’s intriguing social conundrums. Belle realizes her dream of following in her father’s footsteps and accepts the task of writing the story of Grove Park Inn. With this self-discovery she is immediately transfixed by the craftsmanship that this “marvel upon marvel” will require. Joy Callaway intricately dovetails details of stone masons fitting boulders into the walls of the Great Hall and descriptions of rebar and scaffolding involved in tiled roofing, with the comedic contests of the Vagabonds and the outlandish “camping” scenes of the elite socialites and the waitstaff.
A theme of unconditional love is deeply forged into the relationship of Belle and her mother, Grace. They live in fear of their past being discovered by Grace’s new husband and Belle’s betrothed, Worth Delafield. Callaway’s development of the mother/daughter relationship of secrecy and deceit is layered on top of Belle’s skewed perspective of how she views marriage and family, neither involving love. This view creates a lot of angst, frustration, and tense social scenes. Worth Delafield, dealing with the tragic loss of his family, is also operating out of fear. This plot line winds up and down the mountain roads and into the hills. Belle’s faux life also involves the villain, Marie Austen, her self-centered, irritating, deceiving “best friend.” In the midst of the marriage matches and mismatches, the Grove Park Inn is getting closer and closer to completion! Callaway creates anticipation as exhilarating as the mountain air! Finding purpose and truth is at the heart of What the Mountains Remember.
Joy Callaway is an international bestselling author of historical fiction and southern contemporary romance. She formerly served as a marketing director for a wealth management company. She holds a B.A. in Journalism and Public Relations from Marshall University and an M.M.C. in Mass Communication from the University of South Carolina. She resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband, John, and her children. Joy’s beautiful website: https://www.joycallaway.com/
GROVE PARK INN-LINK TO HISTORY & VIDEO TOUR
The Grove Park Inn History: https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/property-details/history
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