Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
“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.
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’m sure that this is a good story, eventually, but the tale is so predictable that I could not finish it. The characters are flat and cartoonish —the lady newspaper reporter is uncouth; the heroine’s father is going to get involved in labor unrest while her mother remonstrates in French; and the heroine herself will fall for the rich boy against both of their families’ wishes. I wondered whether this was a YA novel—but no. The writing was at a 5th grade or below level. Good for Ms Manning for making a bestseller out of this.
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Certain tristesses are too deep for tears. We move onward, as we must. Bravery is not just for the battlefields of war. Every day, ordinary people climb out of bed and carry on extraordinary, in a fight for their families, carrying sorrow, working for the betterment of us all.”
Really lovely ending. Lots to think about.
Really lovely ending. Lots to think about.
Gilded Mountain is a masterpiece of historical fiction, bringing alive the very early labor movement in the United Staes even featuring a cameo appearance by Mother Jones. Sylvie Pelletier, child of French Canadien immigrants, travels with her mother and siblings from Vermont, to a company town in Colorado. Her father works for Padgett Fuel and Stone Company as a quarryman. It is 1907. Why have they traveled to this remote collection of rough cabins, eight miles up a treacherous, icy mountain road from "the prettified coal town of Ruby", then on past the town of Moonstone, with a store, a church and a jail to Cabin 6?
Manning brings alive the grim reality of life in a company town. Workers are often paid in scrip. They receive no pay for the many hours they are required to work to keep the road clear or for any time they are expected to work beyond their shift. The work is hard and they have barely enough to pay rent and buy food. This is a marble mine with virtually no safety protocols. Moving slabs of marble is dangerous work and accidents, including deadly ones are common. There is talk of a union. Sylvie's father is one of the people at the center of the talk, having left Vermont at gunpoint because of his labor organizing activities. His current tendency to talk up unions is unsettling to his wife and unacceptable to his employer. He could lose his job at the whim of the manager and their home along with it.
Sylvie and her older brother attend school. Their toddler brother is home with their mother. Sylvie is a talented student. She wins an essay contest with the local newspaper selecting a daring topic., The Moonstone City Record's female editor is college educated, fiercely independent and progressive. Obviously, she, too is unacceptable to the Padgetts as she increasingly writes critical articles about their employment practices and mine safety. Miss Redmond hires Sylvie to work for her setting type. Eventually she lets Sylvie report on family news and accidents at the mine.
Because she is bilingual in French and English, Sylvie is invited to apply for a position with the mine owners' wife as a secretary for the summer. "Duke" Padgett is obscenely wealthy, with holdings far beyond this mine.. He's from Richmond Virginia and his wife (the "Countess") is from Belgium, where they met in King Leopold's Court. They summer near Moonstone, living in the lavish home they built, Elkhorn Mansion, entertaining visitors from all over. Guests are treated to balls dinners including oysters from the East and other costly delicacies. Duke's son Jasper, attends Harvard but he is also in Moonstone for the summer. Two of Duke's former slaves, John and Easter Grady work there as cook and driver. The Grady's son Caleb is there for the summer and serves as a chef on the Padgetts' private railroad car. Their other son, Marcus, is in a different part of Colorado where he hopes to participate in building a town for "Negroes." Jasper is very close to the Gradys, as Easter took care of him when his mother died.
Sylvie experiences the harsh reality of her father's work and the risks he takes when he encourages his fellow workers to consider fairer treatment. She sees what her mother must do in their meager surroundings to care for her family and help provide for them. She witnesses a variety of immigrant families' adjustment to the harsh conditions of Colorado Mountain winters with no pay because the mine is shut down for the season. She is subjected to harsh comments about the newspaper and her role there. She's spent eight weeks with a front row seat to people living at a level of luxury she could not have imagined. During that time, she connected personally with the Countess, who made something of a pet of her. She connected personally with Jasper almost as a friend. Later, Sylvie meets Mother Jones and the organizer sent by the national union. She's there, when they speak to her father and his coworkers and she's there for the backlash. Pinkerton men arrive, vicious and heartless. She witnesses the challenges faced by the Gradys in seeking how to make their way independently. Ultimately, all of these people interact with Sylvie in life-changing ways that make for an amazing story of the people of turn of the century Colorado.
So, this is the story of one smart, attractive and courageous girl's life. We learn how a variety of opportunities, challenges and a range of people from different classes, countries and backgrounds shape who she is. She takes risks. She makes choices that a situationally moral but would put her in jail if she were discovered. She sometimes follows her heart and loses her way. The characters are fabulous, the story fascinating and fun, dark and sad, exciting, quiet and surprising. Definitely a could not put it down and stayed up too late several nights to read on kind of book.
Manning brings alive the grim reality of life in a company town. Workers are often paid in scrip. They receive no pay for the many hours they are required to work to keep the road clear or for any time they are expected to work beyond their shift. The work is hard and they have barely enough to pay rent and buy food. This is a marble mine with virtually no safety protocols. Moving slabs of marble is dangerous work and accidents, including deadly ones are common. There is talk of a union. Sylvie's father is one of the people at the center of the talk, having left Vermont at gunpoint because of his labor organizing activities. His current tendency to talk up unions is unsettling to his wife and unacceptable to his employer. He could lose his job at the whim of the manager and their home along with it.
Sylvie and her older brother attend school. Their toddler brother is home with their mother. Sylvie is a talented student. She wins an essay contest with the local newspaper selecting a daring topic., The Moonstone City Record's female editor is college educated, fiercely independent and progressive. Obviously, she, too is unacceptable to the Padgetts as she increasingly writes critical articles about their employment practices and mine safety. Miss Redmond hires Sylvie to work for her setting type. Eventually she lets Sylvie report on family news and accidents at the mine.
Because she is bilingual in French and English, Sylvie is invited to apply for a position with the mine owners' wife as a secretary for the summer. "Duke" Padgett is obscenely wealthy, with holdings far beyond this mine.. He's from Richmond Virginia and his wife (the "Countess") is from Belgium, where they met in King Leopold's Court. They summer near Moonstone, living in the lavish home they built, Elkhorn Mansion, entertaining visitors from all over. Guests are treated to balls dinners including oysters from the East and other costly delicacies. Duke's son Jasper, attends Harvard but he is also in Moonstone for the summer. Two of Duke's former slaves, John and Easter Grady work there as cook and driver. The Grady's son Caleb is there for the summer and serves as a chef on the Padgetts' private railroad car. Their other son, Marcus, is in a different part of Colorado where he hopes to participate in building a town for "Negroes." Jasper is very close to the Gradys, as Easter took care of him when his mother died.
Sylvie experiences the harsh reality of her father's work and the risks he takes when he encourages his fellow workers to consider fairer treatment. She sees what her mother must do in their meager surroundings to care for her family and help provide for them. She witnesses a variety of immigrant families' adjustment to the harsh conditions of Colorado Mountain winters with no pay because the mine is shut down for the season. She is subjected to harsh comments about the newspaper and her role there. She's spent eight weeks with a front row seat to people living at a level of luxury she could not have imagined. During that time, she connected personally with the Countess, who made something of a pet of her. She connected personally with Jasper almost as a friend. Later, Sylvie meets Mother Jones and the organizer sent by the national union. She's there, when they speak to her father and his coworkers and she's there for the backlash. Pinkerton men arrive, vicious and heartless. She witnesses the challenges faced by the Gradys in seeking how to make their way independently. Ultimately, all of these people interact with Sylvie in life-changing ways that make for an amazing story of the people of turn of the century Colorado.
So, this is the story of one smart, attractive and courageous girl's life. We learn how a variety of opportunities, challenges and a range of people from different classes, countries and backgrounds shape who she is. She takes risks. She makes choices that a situationally moral but would put her in jail if she were discovered. She sometimes follows her heart and loses her way. The characters are fabulous, the story fascinating and fun, dark and sad, exciting, quiet and surprising. Definitely a could not put it down and stayed up too late several nights to read on kind of book.
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
adventurous
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated