Book Review…Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning

Gilded Mountain is set in Moonstone, Colorado, a mining town and is a story about Sylvie Pelletier as she recounts her life and the effects of effects of slavery on the Grady family and the work of Mary Harris "Mother" Jones and of the difficult lives of workers and their struggles against the owners of the mines.

There were a few great characters in this book! Sylvie is the main character and when we start she is a young woman wanting to do what's right and follow her heart and by the end of the story she has grown into an adult who took charge of her life! Mary Harris Jones wasn't someone I was familiar with but she was another amazing woman! Not accepted as a journalist because she was a woman and she started her own paper. She was a lively character!

This book is beautifully written, with rich details that pull you in and make the characters and their lives truly come to life! It's not based on actual events but it is still rich with history. As a reader you can't help but feel the emotions of the people. It's a great historical fiction story about family, justice and equality with some amazing characters and a little bit of romance! Thank you Scribner Books and Kate Manning for sharing this wonderful story with me!

Riveting story of a girl's dreams of an opulent life, set against the unfairness and cruelty to working class citizens. The story mirrors the real struggle many face when trying to better their lives, but find that this is at the expense of their own moral compass.

I love historical fiction and Gilded Mountain was no exception to that. This book was even more deeply personal for me because I read it while on vacay in Colorado where the story takes places. The novel exposes flaws in American culture and justice, particularly with attention to women’s rights. A great historical fiction that is well written.

Wonderfully written historical novel that involves several different issues - the differences between economic classes, large companies that "owned" small towns, and the formation of some of the first unions. Each character felt very real and believable. All of the different issues and events really kept me engaged and educated me about Colorado mining history.

Beautifully written in a hopeful and growing voice, GILDED MOUNTAIN is an old west tale devoid of cowboys, shoot-‘em-ups and saloon poker. Moonstone, 1907 is the time and place of Sylvie Pelletier: precocious and devoted to her striving family, she’s quickly pulled into a powder keg of local tensions.

As her French-Canadian parents struggle to secure their piece of American prosperity in the Colorado mining town, Sylvie’s loyalties are tested by a dizzying constellation of confusing new relationships.

Within this constellation shine brilliantly depicted American archetypes such as the ink-drenched suffragette; in all her emotional armor, a singular role model for young Pelletier.

The exhausted frustrations of company-town workers are vividly written by the author. Amidst a punishing Rocky Mountain tundra, the history pops.

Labor wars between a greedy town father and an embryonic union movement have Moonstone, CO pregnant with violent foreboding. Working on the robber baron’s estate under the wise eyes of two former slaves, Sylvie is predictably disgusted by a technicolor peek into how the other half lives and thinks.

What’s unpredictable is what she decides to do about it.

This started as a solid 3 star if I’m being honest. It was easy to get into but it was just okay at first and I wondered why I had wanted to read it so bad. But then…I have no idea when it happened but I couldn’t read it fast enough. It was so good and I couldn’t get enough. It has such a scenic setting, very atmospheric. I love stories that make you feel as if you also live on the side of a frigid mountain. I felt as if I was there. I loved Sylvie’s character, I loved her moral dilemmas. It you love historical fiction/atmospheric fiction that’s a bit different than a lot of historical fiction out there, this is such a great read. Highly recommend! I read this as an advanced readers copy courtesy of NetGalley.

This is a gritty coming-of-age story set in the early 1900s. I think it would be a good young adult book because of the young protagonist and her discovery of right and wrong and her willingness to speak out about working conditions in the mines. The characters are very believable and the descriptions of the times are very well done.

Racing through my newly received ARC (thanks to S & S). This is one of those books that i don't want to finish too quickly but will move on to Manning's earlier work My Notorious Life. The book is well plotted, providing detailed descriptions of pre-OSHA conditions and the politics of conditions in high altitude mining communities. Life was brutal but we are provided with a plucky heroine who masters adversity. Welcome fare for these troubled times. Pre-order and put this on title on your Christmas list!

Have been unable to review due to illness. Review coming soon! This novel looks fantastic and I can't wait to read this one!

A novel taken from Colorado history. Moonstone Colorado in 1907 is not a calm easy place. There is discontent everywhere.

3.5 stars, rounding up. Sylvie is a young woman dropped into a quarry town in Colorado in 1907, a turbulent time in American history (when is it not, amiright). Her father works a dangerous job for the marble company, and she learns much about the struggle for fair and safe working conditions thanks to her job at the town newspaper. She also makes it into the inner circle of the town's “royal” family, and goes through some inner struggles over doing what is right.

I read a lot of historical fiction. I’ve actually recently read a lot set in early 20th century America, centering on labor struggles. This book is beautifully written, with rich details that pull you into the setting and make the characters and their lives truly vibrant. Be warned that it is on the slow side, and there were some sections that dragged for me.

I liked the ending of this book, and I liked the fact that Sylvie still wrestled with what exactly “the right thing” is, as I think realistically no one can really pin that down. I was, however, expecting a bit more drama at the climax/conclusion, especially since it is alluded to multiple times throughout the narrative — what with Sylvie repetitively referencing the big wrong thing she does.

Truthfully, I wasn’t in the right mindset for this type of story and I’d like to come back to again in the future to see how my opinion differs. I can easily appreciate the skill of the writer though, and I did order another of her novels already.

Thank you to Kate Manning, Scribner, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end. The characters were strongly written and drew you into the story. I couldn't put the book down I had to know what happened next. The historical aspects of the story were enticing and I wanted to know more. Overall very good book and I can't wait to read more by Kate Manning!

Incredibly thought provoking stuff here. Her characters are so well drawn out, that I truly felt like I was living the narrative alongside them. The writing is beautiful, and evocative and makes the pages fly, Can't wait to sell this!

Sylvie is a young girl who just moved to Colorado with her family. Her father works in a marble mine where he barely scrapes by. He's constantly fighting for more worker rights. Sylvie graduates high school and begins work at a newspaper printer until she's given the opportunity to work as an assistant for a king! This gives her perspective into how the others live, outside of the mining community.

This was a slow read for me. I was very intrigued by the setting and people because I love historical fiction. This was a coming of age novel and probably more fitting for young-adult interest.

#NetGalley #KateManning #GildedMountain

I was lucky enough to read this incredible novel months before publication. Not only is it in my top five, but it has to be the first book that pulled me in and wouldn’t let go. I’m still thinking about Sylvie.

Set in Colorado in 1907, this historical novel tells the fictional story of a young woman trying to make her way in the freezing and rough landscape that is Moonstone. As she decides to abandon her family’s snowed-in mountain cabin to work for the wealthy Padgetts, who owns the mining company her father works for, she finds herself questioning society's rules and is able to see the many injustices unfold around her. As the novel picks up speed, so does her heartbreak and longing.

The plight of Sylvie and her family felt like a burden on me as I read the novel in my warm bed. Ingenious writing. I truly felt something for these characters.

Overall, the setting was breathtaking and gritty, and Manning wrote the characters well. I could continue with my review, but you must read the book. Highly recommend.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you like historical fiction about the western United States, I highly recommend this book to you. Sylvie Pelletier and her family move to Colorado when she is young. Her father tried to start a union in Vermont and were run out of town. This book shows both sides of the people who are involved in the mines in Moonstone: the miners and the owners/bosses. A very hardscrabble kind of life where everyone (children, women, and men) have to pitch in and work to get by. There are huge differences between the haves and have-nots, but the workers are willing to fight for what they want and deserve. A great read overall!

Gilded Mountain is historical fiction of the best type. The reader gets a look into what life was like for workers and their families in a place called Moonstone, Colorado, set in a marble mine. It was a hard way to make a living, and for some, it was not even making a living. The story is about Sylvie Pelletier and her family, who try to live in the extreme conditions of the mountains in Colorado.

Set in the early years of the 20th century, Sylvie's father is trying to get a union in to the mine to assist the workers to ensure they would be paid and kept safe while working. Sylvie's mother worried it would be trouble for him, and therefore the entire family. Sylvie secures a job working for a local newspaper, which puts her in a position to know things others may not know.

Based on historical events and featuring some historical people, the story unfolds with violence and drama, as well as love. Although not based on an actual event, it is based on history. It is a good read and exciting as well as enlightening. Perhaps it is an argument for keeping unions in the current time

This book should appeal to younger fans of historical based fiction, especially those interested in life in the high mountain mining communities in the US west, especially as experienced by a girl aged around 12-14. Being decades past this audience, the combination of slow pacing and unusually worded prose made reading not enjoyable. After trying to continue for several evenings, I eventually realized this book would become a DNF. However, best wishes to the author for a successful launch. The book world needs more stories about plucky young girls pushing back against stereotypical roles for females and fighting for the right to work at something for which they are passionate.

This novel was a great example of compelling historical fiction. I liked that the main character was complex and not at all one-dimensional. Great action, great plot, great resolution.

Kate Manning delivers a nuanced, multi-layered story of a woman's life from the early years of of the 20th century through the 30s. It's very believable and clearly well researched. We see the injustices against laborers before the earliest unions. We see the challenges of first generation immigrants, the broad class disparities, and racism.Yet this book is not about social justice.

The main character, Sylvie, is telling her story looking back. She sees and admits the faults of her own ignorance and youthful passions. She desires justice, but the best she can give - besides her words of witness - is charity. "Charity is a private, whimsical thing, not a system of fairness."

I liked Sylvie and enjoyed seeing her life through her eyes.
I was given advanced access to this book for my review.

#NetGalley #GildedMountain