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Gilded Mountain: A Novel Audiobook
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Sylvie Pelletier is the irrepressible young heroine of this sweeping historical novel, set in Moonstone, Colorado, 1907. Hers is the tale of a hardscrabble education, about right and wrong, and the consequences of speaking out against injustice.
In a voice full of questions and sly humor, Sylvie recounts the story of leaving her family’s snowbound mountain cabin to work in the local manor house for the Padgetts, owners of the marble mining company that employs her father and dominates the town. Sharp-eyed Sylvie is awed by the luxury around her, fascinated by her employer, the charming “Countess” Inge, and confused by the erratic affections of Jasper, the bookish heir to the family fortune. When she learns that a European King will soon arrive for a hunting party, her fairy-tale ideas of glamour and romance take a dark turn, as she realizes the Padgetts’ lofty philosophical talk is at odds with the unfair labor practices that have enriched them. Their servants, the Gradys, descendants of formerly enslaved people have long known this to be true—and are making plans to form a utopian community on the Colorado prairie.
Outside the manor walls, Moonstone is roiling with discontent. A handsome union organizer, along with labor leader Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, is stirring up the quarry workers. The editor of the local newspaper—a bold woman who takes Sylvie on as apprentice—is publishing unflattering accounts of the Padgett Company. Threats of violence permeate the air. Sylvie navigates between vastly different worlds, and struggles to find her own voice amidst conflicting loves and loyalties. When the harsh and dangerous winter brings tragedy, Sylvie must choose between silence and revenge.
Drawn from true stories of Colorado history, Gilded Mountain is an unforgettable saga of a bygone American West seized by robber barons and settled by immigrants; a novel about resilience in the midst of hardship, and a story infused with longing—for family and equality, beauty and joy.
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“An expansive novel of passions: love, beauty, suffering; struggles for labor rights, women’s equality, and the rights of formerly enslaved people…the natural world…[and] an admirable and unforgettable heroine.”
— Shelf Awareness
Quotes
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“A rousing yarn about family, feminism, and loyalty, it’s also a crash course in the history of labor relations.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“A big historical novel to read by the fire…A stellar read from an acclaimed author.”
— Los Angeles Times -
“Manning shines at giving the era’s class, racial, and economic tensions a human face. This is one to savor.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
'“The social issues of the novel’s time period, including the wealth gap, women’s rights and freedom of the press, artfully mirror those in 21st-century America.”
— Washington Post
Awards
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A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice of the Week
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An Amazon Best Books of the Year Selection
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Longlisted for the Reading the West Book Award for Fiction
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About Kate Manning
Kate Manning is the author of the critically acclaimed novels My Notorious Life and Whitegirl. A former documentary television producer and winner of two Emmy Awards, she has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times Book Review, Time, Glamour, and the London Guardian, among other publications. She has taught creative writing at Bard High School Early College in New York City.
About Dawn Harvey
Dawn Harvey has been performing for as long as she has been able to walk and talk and sing. She was already a stage and film actress when she began her voice-over career and now is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator.