The Listeners
In this satisfying historical fantasy, June Hudson is the General Manager of the Avallon: a luxury spa and hotel nestled in the gorgeous Appalachian coal country of West Virginia. The hotel has been the charmed playground of America’s rich and powerful for decades, owing partly to the magic of the Sweetwater, an uncanny, powerful underground mountain spring. June has grown up at the Avallon, and like its original owner, Francis Gilfoyle, she can “listen” to the Sweetwater, calming and coaxing it to continue imbuing the Avallon with the joyful magic that makes it the perfect hotel. She guides and nurtures the Avallon like a living thing, earning the respect of the wealthy guests as well as her staff. She is not motivated by money or fame, however, but by her affection for her mentor’s large family, none of whom inherited their father’s ability to hear the Sweetwater.
The happy symbiosis of hotel, staff, guests, and Sweetwater is threatened when, in the spring of 1942, the Avallon is pressed into service to shelter German, Italian, and Japanese diplomats who will soon be exchanged for American prisoners of war. June and her kind, principled, loyal staff must extend the Avallon’s legendary pampering to their enemies, and do so with a smile, for the sake of their country’s diplomatic goals.
There are two other Listeners in the story: Tucker Minnick, a taciturn but sexy G-man assigned to guard the unwilling guests, and Hannelore Wolfe, the autistic daughter of a high-level Nazi. The plot that intertwines these three characters is suspenseful, dense and fascinating, written with Stiefvater’s characteristic witty dialog and lush description. She makes sure the reader loves the Avallon as much as June does, and fills the hotel with appealing characters, many of whom are based on her extensive historical research.
