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Review: THE LISTENERS by Maggie Stiefvater
- Sophia Rose
- Jun 26
- 4 min read
ABOUT THE BOOK
#1 New York Times bestselling novelist Maggie Stiefvater dazzles in this mesmerizing portrait of an irresistible heroine, an unlikely romance, and a hotel—and a world—in peril. January 1942. The Avallon Hotel & Spa has always offered elegant luxury in the wilds of West Virginia, its mountain sweetwater washing away all of high society’s troubles. Local girl-turned-general manager June Porter Hudson has guided the Avallon skillfully through the first pangs of war. The Gilfoyles, the hotel’s aristocratic owners, have trained her well. But when the family heir makes a secret deal with the State Department to fill the hotel with captured Axis diplomats, June must persuade her staff—many of whom have sons and husbands heading to the front lines—to offer luxury to Nazis. With a smile. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Tucker Minnick, whose coal tattoo hints at an Appalachian past, presses his ears to the hotel’s walls, listening for the diplomats’ secrets. He has one of his own, which is how he knows that June’s balancing act can have dangerous consequences: the sweetwater beneath the hotel can threaten as well as heal. June has never met a guest she couldn’t delight, but the diplomats are different. Without firing a single shot, they have brought the war directly to her. As clashing loyalties crack the Avallon’s polished veneer, June must calculate the true cost of luxury.
OPENING LINES
The day the hotel changed forever began as any other. June Porter Hudson woke before dawn in a basement apartment in the staff cottage closest to the hot springs.
GUEST REVIEW by Sophie Rose:
NY Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater swept me away several years back with her "Shiver" series, and she came to my notice once again after a five-year hiatus to present The Listeners. If you’re an author who writes amazing young adult paranormal romance, fantasy, and magical realism, the crossover to WWII historical fiction with a dash of magical realism seems quite a departure. But once again, Stiefvater delivers.
The Listeners is set in the WWII era after Pearl Harbor and takes place entirely stateside in the unlikely setting of a luxury hotel and spa hidden deep in the West Virginia mountains. The Avallon is forced to do its part for the war effort by housing some of the Axis Powers’ political prisoners while various government agencies led by three FBI G-men listen in and hope for the prisoners to reveal info the US can use to help fight the war. The hotel staff are used to wealthy American clients and reluctantly take on this new challenge.
While this may sound like the situation for a suspenseful thriller, The Listeners is more in tone of a gently paced, character-driven magical realism tale from the past. The heart of the story is the enigmatic Avallon general manager, the unlikely mountain-grown, only luxury hotel female manager, June Hudson. The hotel is the grand dame it is, and the last word in luxury because of her and her misfit, talented staff, and the magical hot springs beneath the mountain and piped into the Avallon. June ‘listens’ to the Sweetwater, a local legend in the West Virginia mountains--and the waters listen to her.
The story takes a while to get rolling after introducing June, a little of her history, the situation at the Avallon, the changes coming with the closing of the hotel to become a place to keep the political prisoners, and the arrival of FBI Agent Tucker Rye Minnick and the rest of the government entourage. Tucker’s a local Mountaineer, home-grown like June, with his own troubling past and now tricky situation to manage. And June needs to manage not just the hotel but her confused feelings for two very different men.
The author skillfully intertwines sinister undertones within the complex plot and lush characters. Maggie Stiefvater brings her mystical storytelling style, and I greatly appreciated her first foray into historical fiction.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am Maggie Stiefvater. I write books. Some of them are funny, ha-ha, and some of them are funny, strange. Several of them are #1 NYT Bestsellers.
I play several musical instruments (most infamously, the bagpipes) and make art in several media (most typically, colored pencils).
Currently, I live in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia with my husband, my two children, some cows, seven dogs, an interminable number of miniature silky fainting goats, and a mating pair of growly tuner cars.
I like things that go. You can find more about Maggie on her website.
ABOUT GUEST REVIEWER, Sophia Rose
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, baseball, cats, Scooby Doo, and chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. In 2012, she submitted her first book review and is currently an associate reviewer. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener, which allows her to experience many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction, particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Sorry, no horror...or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
Thanks, Sophia Rose! This book might make a great gift for my niece or mom (and I'd probably enjoy it, too, if my TBR list weren't so long)!