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A review by ohemgeebooks
Gilded Mountain: A Novel by Kate Manning
3.0
I couldn’t imagine what marble-mining in the early 1900s Colorado would be like without the help of Kate Manning’s newest novel, Gilded Mountain.
This is just one of the things I love about infusing my reading life with historical fiction.
In this quasi-coming-of-age novel, our young protagonist Sylvia Pelletier recounts the story of her family’s move to the snow-bound mountain where her father is employed as a marble miner, her time working for the company’s owners as the “Countess” Inge’s secretary, working as a fearless newspaper reporter, and a union rabble rouser fighting to secure labor rights for workers like her father.
It’s an illuminating tale of what life was like for so many families during the early 20th century, trying to secure a way of life in a desolate, cold country. As a historical fiction novel, I learned a lot about the immigrant experience, the appalling work conditions for early companies & the necessity for labor union creation, and Colorado’s history.
Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me for a couple of reasons. The storytelling felt a bit off & the suspense was missing making this reading experience feel like an uphill challenge. Also, Sylvie’s love interests felt unrealistic and fleeting. There was so much jam-packed within the plot, that it was difficult to form emotive feelings towards the characters.
If you’re a fan of early 20th century American historical fiction & want to learn more about early Colorado history, be sure to add this to your TBR.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This is just one of the things I love about infusing my reading life with historical fiction.
In this quasi-coming-of-age novel, our young protagonist Sylvia Pelletier recounts the story of her family’s move to the snow-bound mountain where her father is employed as a marble miner, her time working for the company’s owners as the “Countess” Inge’s secretary, working as a fearless newspaper reporter, and a union rabble rouser fighting to secure labor rights for workers like her father.
It’s an illuminating tale of what life was like for so many families during the early 20th century, trying to secure a way of life in a desolate, cold country. As a historical fiction novel, I learned a lot about the immigrant experience, the appalling work conditions for early companies & the necessity for labor union creation, and Colorado’s history.
Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me for a couple of reasons. The storytelling felt a bit off & the suspense was missing making this reading experience feel like an uphill challenge. Also, Sylvie’s love interests felt unrealistic and fleeting. There was so much jam-packed within the plot, that it was difficult to form emotive feelings towards the characters.
If you’re a fan of early 20th century American historical fiction & want to learn more about early Colorado history, be sure to add this to your TBR.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.