"What the Mountains Remember" offers a detailed look at the building of the Grove Park Inn in the early 1900's. I loved the setting, the romance, and the touches of real history like the Vagabonds camping trips. However, I feel there was a bit too much detail written about the construction of the inn itself. I think a higher level of information could have sufficed, and taken roughly 50 pages out of the story, which I feel it could have benefited from. Other than this small critique, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to checking out more from this author.

This book had a great writing style. I loved the imagery used to describe Asheville in the past. The storyline reminded me of the Bridgetown books with more historical representation. While I found a lot of the plot to be predictable, I still think it was an enjoyable book.

What a truly beautiful book!
Once again this one made me feel all the feels…
Love, heartbreak, jealousy, hatred, and the huge open hole that’s left when you lose someone you love!

Belle Newbold is a young woman who does not really want to get married.
She lost her Dad several years ago in a mining accident and was shattered afterwards. Her Mom, who loved her Dad, heart and soul, never imagined she would love again…yet she found love…and her life and her daughter’s changed forever.
Her new husband is a gas magnate with huge pockets…as opposed to their humble beginnings of living paycheck to paycheck.
When her stepfather introduces her to Worth Delafield, who is also wealthy and looking for a wife…things are about to change for her…. But, is her heart in it?

This one made me laugh and smile as many times as it brought me to tears!
It is so beautifully painted and told…

And Belle is such a beautiful soul. You can actually FEEL her love and tenderness as it unfolds throughout the storylines. ❤️

The same cannot be said for her cousin. She is meanness personified…over and over….

On this journey you will see Belle grow and learn as her horizons expand…and the changes she makes will be felt for lifetimes to come!
And the fact that she is open, willing and eager to take things on that women of that time would never even consider…well, that just speaks volumes!

Beautiful story with remarkable, wholesome, kind, loving bones!

5 + ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

#WhatTheMountainsRemember by #JoyCalloway and narrated beautifully by #BrittanyPressley.

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #HarperCollinsFocus and #HaperMuse for an ARC of the audiobook which was released on 4/2/24…so you should be able to find it on shelves now! I am so happy to have been gifted this ARC…It is truly special!!

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I loved this story by Joy Callaway! What the Mountains Remember is the story of two people determined to not fall in love. Worth and Belle truly believe that love only leads to heartache because of past experiences. Their relationship is to be a practical one, with no emotion attached to each other. However, the reality is that life doesn’t work that way. Join them as they face their past and hope for their future. You’ll be glad you did!
Also, the narrator did a great job!

Belle Newbold knows she walks a precarious line, and it has never been more obvious until now. Her stepfather Shipley has been invited by friend Henry Ford on one of his famous vagabond weekends camping, or rather “glamping” in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Having been raised in the mountains of West Virginia as a small child she hasn’t seen a peak in seven years, since her father’s mining days. And her heart aches being back in nature where she feels most like herself.
When her biological father died in an accident her mother fell into a deep depression and fought her way out of it and out of that life. With a few white lies, Belle’s mother moved them into a new life with Shipley in Gas City. In this life, Belle is well educated and pampered. Shipley has even helped arrange a marriage between her and Worth Delafield, which is pretty astounding considering his fortune will be left to his biological son and a small pension for Belle’s mother, and not a penny will follow Belle.

When a reporter on the the Vagabond camping trip is thrown out, Belle is unexpectedly thrusted into the roll of reporting on the new Grove Park Inn. A role recommended for her by Worth after he boasted of her writing abilities he’s seen displayed through their correspondence. She prefers researching and interviewing the workers at Grove Inn rather than tromping around participating in Ford’s made-up contests in their camp.

This trip aides Belle in realizing how fragile her future is, and what she really wants in life. With her stepfather’s friend’s a stone’s throw from the workers of Grove Park Inn, Belle sees their circumstances in sharp contrast and does what she can to shed light on blue collar America in her article.

Joy Callaway has obviously taken great care with her historical research, especially the information pertaining to the spread of consumption, and building construction of the time period. Belle is an easy character to admire, but I found her cousin irritating every time she appeared on the page. Though I enjoyed the story, parts of it did lag a little for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Muse, and the author Joy Callaway for the advanced copy of the audiobook. What the Mountains Remember is out now. All opinions are my own.

Set in 1913, this was a really interesting look at the construction the fantastic North Carolina, Grove Park Inn, dubbed the Eighth wonder of the world. I enjoyed how the author focused on the stories of the men and women who helped build the Inn and not just the wealthy elite who funded it. I knew nothing about this place that competed with tuberculosis sanatoriums in the surrounding town as that disease was running rampant at the time. Featuring a strong woman, trying to find her place in the world, a complicated arranged marriage love story and great on audio narrated by one of my favs, Brittany Pressley. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review. I went into this blindly and was pleasantly surprised!