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What the Mountains Remember
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
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Publisher's summary
“Joy Calloway weaves a dramatic, heartfelt story of self-discovery and a hard-won love against the stunning backdrop the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World.’”
—Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author of Time is a River
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.
International bestselling author Joy Callaway returns with a story of the ordinary people behind extraordinary beauty—and the question of who gets to tell their stories.
Praise for What the Mountains Remember:
“Callaway is back with another insightful rendering of a place and time in history, bringing her trademark attention to detail, warmth, and heart to a story centered around one of the nation’s most beautiful and fabled hotels, the Grove Park Inn in Asheville NC.”—Marybeth Mayhew Whalen, author of ten novels and cofounder of The Book Tide
"A stunning portrayal of the building of the Grove Park Inn that reveals not only its grandeur, but also the struggles of the laborers tasked with its construction, Joy Callaway brings the famed Vagabonds to life with immaculate research and rich details in this intriguing, elegantly written historical fiction that readers are going to love!”—Madeline Martin, New York Times Bestseller author of The Keeper of Hidden Books?
- Perfect for fans of The Only Woman in Room and A Well-Behaved Woman
- Stand-alone novel
- Includes Discussion Questions
Critic reviews
'An emotionally moving novel, Calloway's, WHAT THE MOUNTAINS REMEMBER takes us down an entertaining path that explores memories from the past with forging a new future, and how the hardships we've endured make us stronger. With cameos from some of Americas motorcar icons, and the builders of the Grove Park Inn, this meticulously researched novel is an adventurous transport through the hills and forests of North Carolina the mountains of West Virginia, with characters you'll root for, and a few you'll love to loathe. This drama-packed page turner will warm your heart, and keep you turning the pages late into the night!'—Eliza Knight, USA Today and international bestselling author of STARRING ADELE ASTAIRE
'Joy Callaway never fails to bring the past to life in brilliant color. This book has it all: the lush mystery of the mountains, the dauntless resolve of a woman at work, and the breathtaking art of building something that will last for generations. I absolutely loved it.'—Amy Jo Burns, author of MERCURY
'WHAT THE MOUNTAINS REMEMBER brings the reader to the lush landscape of the Blue Ridge Mountains with an elegant group of famous society glampers to observe the construction of the fabled Grove Park Inn. A young woman confronts class distinction and the restraints of a woman's place set against the hardscrabble lives of the laborers. Joy Calloway weaves a dramatic, heartfelt story of self-discovery and a hard-won love against the stunning backdrop the 'Eighth Wonder of the World.''—Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author of TIME IS A RIVER
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In Victorian-era Louisville, the Home for Friendless Women is run by benevolent benefactors with one mission: to reform the fallen women who live there into pious mothers and wives through religious lessons and hard work. For Ruth, a college student who’s expelled after a campus sexual assault, the Home is a purgatory to endure before she can get her life back. For Belle, a queer sex worker who exchanged her bed at a brothel for one in the Home, it’s a safe place to rest her feet until she can track down her missing lover.
By: Kelly E. Hill
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What’s Not Mine
- A Novel
- By: Nora Decter
- Narrated by: Billie Baird
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Since her drug-dealing father disappeared and his girlfriend overdosed, Bria has lived with her aunt Tash and best friend/cousin Ains. By day, Bria and Ains babysit Ains’s younger siblings and sling fast food at Burger Shack. But at night, Bria has her own secret world, sneaking out to see Someboy, an older guy who captivates her sometimes. Other times, he angers-insults-upends her, and that has a certain charm too. But trouble comes for Beauchamp and for Bria.
By: Nora Decter
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How to Plot a Payback
- By: Melissa Ferguson
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham, Steve West
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Successful screenwriter Finn Masters just landed his dream job writing for Neighbors, one of Hollywood’s highest-rated, longest-running sitcoms. The only downside? It will put him back in proximity of the show’s universally adored, optimistic, altruistic star, Lavender Rhodes, who has been inadvertently ruining his life since they were school chums in England. But she doesn’t even know she destroyed his acting career and wrecked his relationship with the love of his life.
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Feel good- loved the characters
- By Rebecca on 04-24-24
By: Melissa Ferguson
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The Promise of Rain
- By: Vasundra Tailor
- Narrated by: Shaheen Khan
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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With her thirtieth birthday on the horizon, Anna Kotze has accepted that there are some family secrets she’ll never know. While her mother’s Zimbabwean roots are woven into her life, all her father will say is that he was adopted. But when she finds an engraved necklace hidden among his things, a surprise piece of the puzzle finally falls into place: her father wasn’t just adopted—he was abandoned. The only clue to her grandmother’s identity is the inscription, ‘Indira’, Anna’s own middle name. But who was her namesake and where is she now?
By: Vasundra Tailor
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The Book of Thorns
- By: Hester Fox
- Narrated by: Ell Potter, Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Penniless and stranded in France after a bid to escape her cruel uncle goes awry, Cornelia Shaw is far from the Parisian life of leisure she imagined. Desperate and lacking options, she allows herself to be recruited to Napoleon’s Grande Armée. As a naturalist, her near-magical ability to heal any wound with herbal mixtures invites awe amongst the soldiers…and suspicion. For behind Cornelia’s vast knowledge of the natural world is a secret she keeps hidden—the flowers speak to her through a mysterious connection she has felt since childhood.
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Another great one from Ms. Fox
- By audrey melton on 04-11-24
By: Hester Fox
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Bitter and Sweet
- A Novel
- By: Rhonda McKnight
- Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Angel Pean, Lynnette R. Freeman
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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When summoned to Georgetown, South Carolina, sisters Mariah Clark and Sabrina Holland both assume their ailing grandfather's health has gotten worse. Neither expects their grandmother's undeniable request--save the family restaurant. Mariah is at a crossroad in her life. After being dumped by her husband and forced to walk away from their diner that she helped rescue from bankruptcy, bitter feelings consume her. Even though the restaurant has been in the family for eighty-six years, giving her all to another struggling business isn't something she wants to do.
By: Rhonda McKnight
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Because All Fades
- By: Freddie Gillies
- Narrated by: Toby Webster
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Andrew and his girlfriend Jess are making a life for themselves in London, but it's a bit of a grind, and now their relationship is beginning to suffer. Andrew's best friend Jaryd, on the other hand, is living every young man's dream - a beautiful apartment in Paris, a happy relationship with the lovely Liv, and a business venture gone global. But when the two couples head off on a summer road trip around Italy, relationships are tested by temptation, drugs, and an accident that will come to define them.
By: Freddie Gillies
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The Sicilian Inheritance
- A Novel
- By: Jo Piazza
- Narrated by: Rachel F. Hirsch, Carlotta Brentan
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Sara Marsala barely knows who she is anymore after the failure of her business and marriage. On top of that, her beloved great-aunt Rosie passes away, leaving Sara bereft with grief. But Aunt Rosie’s death also opens an escape from her life and a window into the past by way of a plane ticket to Sicily, a deed to a possibly valuable plot of land, and a bombshell family secret. Rosie believes Sara’s great-grandmother Serafina, the family matriarch who was left behind while her husband worked in America, didn’t die of illness as family lore has it . . . she was murdered.
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A great adventure
- By Julia R on 04-06-24
By: Jo Piazza
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The Other Year
- By: Rea Frey
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Told in parallel timelines, Kate begins to live two lives—one in which Olivia resurfaces and one in which she doesn’t. In the reality that follows her daughter’s death, she maneuvers through every mother’s worst nightmare, facing grief, rage, and the question of purpose in the aftermath of such profound loss. She endures, day by day, in a world without her daughter. In her alternate timeline, while she explores a tremulous romance with her best friend, Jason, she finds herself grappling with the ex-husband who abandoned Kate and Olivia years prior.
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Great “sliding doors” story
- By Amazon Customer on 10-12-23
By: Rea Frey
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In Every Life
- By: Rea Frey
- Narrated by: Jennifer Araya
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Ben and Harper have had a rough start to their marriage. After a surprise late-stage cancer diagnosis, Ben comes up with one final wish for his wife: he wants Harper to find someone else before he dies. Harper is resistant to this wacky plan. If she can’t have Ben, then she doesn’t want anyone. Finally, he lets it drop, but not before the New York Times sends a journalist to do a feature story about Ben’s life...and his idea. When Harper opens the door, she is stunned to find the one man who got away. Or, the man she spent one perfect week with a decade ago and never saw again: Liam Hale.
By: Rea Frey