A beautifully written historical novel set during the labor movements of early 20th-century Colorado. It’s rich with detail and driven by a strong, smart heroine fighting for justice. At times it feels a bit dense, but the payoff is a vivid portrait of courage and perseverance. Highly recommended for historical fiction lovers.

When the Pelletier family comes to Moonstone, Colorado, it is with high hopes. They have come so Jack, the father, can work in the marble mines as he is a skilled explosive worker. But things do not work out. It turns out that the mine work is full of danger, work that isn't paid for, required overtime and other things. The Padgetts who own the mine, are extremely wealthy but they gained that wealth exploiting workers and they don't plan to change anytime soon.

Sylvie is the oldest girl. She does whatever she can to help out, taking what load she can from her mother and working odd jobs when she can. She gets a job working on the local newspaper and then one summer, a dream job. She will be working and living at the Padgett estate, being a secretary and companion to Padgett's second wife. While there, she meets Jasper, the Padgett son and heir and they begin a relationship.

But Moonstone is about to explode and Sylvie is there for all of it. A union organizer comes and sets up a union and soon the workers are on strike and living in tents in the frigid Colorado winter. The mine owners and bosses bring in the Pinkertons, not as detectives but as enforcers and bullies. Even Mother Jones comes to talk with the union men, and Sylvie meets her. But things explode and soon Moonstone isn't a safe place to be.

This book is written on true events and uses some true historical figures like Mother Jones, the Pinkertons and King Leopold of Belgium. But the story belongs to Sylvie and the miners and the book's sympathies are with them. Sylvie is a brave individual and the twists and turns of her life make interesting reading. This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.

'Gilded Mountain' by Kate Manning is a historic fiction set in the unique combination of the America's Gilded Age and the last remaining vestiges of the Wild West. The main character is compelling and the prose sets the scene perfectly.

I was excited to read this one, but it just didn't capture me the way I hoped it would. The story felt like it was just a little too long. Perhaps I'd read too many books in a similar genre recently and that colored my opinion.

I will not publish my review -- I am obviously in the minority -- I did not like this book.

https://www.bookbarmy.com/the-gilded-mountain-by-kate-manning/

I had a difficult time wanting to read this one. The characters were not my favorite and I wasn’t able to connect with any of them. The storyline felt slow but also chaotic at the same time. Lost interest pretty quick.

Thank you to Scribner and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I tried to start this book a few times, but I just could not get into it. Sadly I DNF

An amazing historical tale of a family that moves to a Colorado mountain town to work in the mines. Heroine Sylvie sets out to change the working conditions of the town in this fabulous western coming of age story.

In comparing this book to Kate Manning's first work My Notorious Life. I was highly disappointed. I could not get into the story and I found no intrigue in the telling. Highly forgettable.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

I have attempted on several occasions to make my way through this novel. I just can't. Sadly, a DNF.

This story is told in first person by Sylvie, a seventeen-year-old girl who has traveled with her Quebecois family to Moonstone, Colorado in 1907 to join her father who works as a machinist for a stone quarry. It tells of the hardships of the mineworkers and the excesses and ignorance of the quarry owners, but most of all it is the story of a young girl learning about life and love and the unfairness of the world. I enjoyed the setting and the depictions of early union workers and the life of the mineworkers and other working classes as well as the insights into the racial tensions of the times.

However, I found myself frustrated with the young girl who is portrayed as a brave newswriter for a female operated paper that tells the “truth” in direct opposition of the local newspaper put out by the Company sycophants. Sylvie spent more time mooning over Jace, the drunken doddering Padget heir, than she did being a strong female protagonist. I tired of listening to her mouth off in her head to all the deserving authorities but when push came to shove, she just kept her mouth shut and went about her business doing her best not to make waves while she waited for her love interest to do something.

Recommended to readers who enjoy coming-of-age stories about females making their way in the historical American West.

Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for a copy provided for an honest review.

With perfect pitch, this is a well written, atmospheric novel. I loved the finely drawn characters and the tumult of the town.
Many thanks to Scribner and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC. I couldn't finish the book. The story didn't really resonate with me. I may have to go back and re-read it at another time. It was kind of a sad story and I was going through a tough time then. But it does seem to have more positive reviews mostly by others.

A sweeping historical romance that covered a little-known part of history, Gilded Mountain is a thrilling, heartbreaking tale of injustice and finding one’s voice.

My favorite part of this book was definitely the writing style–it’s both lyrical and stark in the way it describes our protagonist, Sylvie, and the catapulting she does from her squalid mountain existence to the opulent home of the wealthy mine owners. Spanning generations, this is both a coming-of-age novel and a warning about what happens when battles fought in the past are taken for granted by us in the present, and the ending is one that still haunts me.

If I have any qualms with this book, it’s that the foreshadowing felt a bit too heavy handed—it’s VERY obvious that bad things will happen later on in this book, but it was alluded to a few too many times before the event actually happened. I also thought the last section of the novel felt a bit rushed, and some elements of one of the romances felt underdeveloped and a bit out of left field.

Overall, though, this was a heartrending, beautiful novel that will stick with me for a long time.

“I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there, and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad, he would be a United States Senator.” — Mary Harris “Mother” Jones.

The early 1900s is an epic time in American history and Moonstone, Colorado, is a harsh place to live. In Gilded Mountain, author Kate Manning introduces readers to Sylvie Pelletier, an unforgettable teenager who bravely exposes the corruption that enriches her father’s employers.

Sylvie is a first-generation American and the daughter of French-Canadian parents. To help put food on the table, the sixteen-year-old serves as an apprentice to the editor of the local newspaper. But when she is offered a temporary position as a personal assistant, she leaves her family’s dilapidated mountain cabin to work in the opulent manor house of the Padgetts, exploitative owners of the marble-mining company that employs her father. “Countess” Inge is charming, Mr. Padgett is lecherous, but it’s their son Jasper who has her affections.

The town of Moonstone is roiling with discontent. Labor conditions are dangerous, the camp is primitive, and what provisions can be had must be bought at the overpriced company store with company scrip.

A handsome union organizer, along with labor leader Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, is stirring up the quarry workers. The company hires union busters and the Pinkertons to quell the protests.

Gilded Mountain is drawn from the true stories of powerful robber barons and the immigrants who make them rich. Sylvie’s vivid first-person narrative and deeply sympathetic characters captured my imagination and didn’t let go. 5 stars.

I had a difficult time with this one. Couldn't get into it. I browsed through to the end, and was not happy with the ending, so that did it for me.

I received this as an arc, and am under no pressure for a positive review.

Ramona Thompson

A good story about the strength of women in the coal mining/union days in Colorado. The author did a great job on describing the the women and also the Colorado mountain country.

Set in a Colorado mining town in the early 1900’s, Gilded Mountain is historical fiction that brings to light the brutal living conditions of miners and their families, contrasted with the luxurious lifestyles of the mine owners and operators. The main character, Sylvie, is a rather silly 18-year old girl who confronts many things during the course of the book—mine tragedies, labor organizing and strikes, newspaper reporting, race relations, and much, much more. Yes, there’s a lot going on here, but Sylvie is.written with great voice, and the book really brings this time and place to life. Young adult readers who like historical fiction would be especially interested In this book.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC.

I, unfortunately, had trouble getting into this one. I started it on several different occasions and could not push through. This was a "did not finish" for me.