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The Listeners

A Novel

ebook
0 of 2 copies available
Wait time: About 8 weeks
0 of 2 copies available
Wait time: About 8 weeks
National Bestseller · An Oprah Daily Best Summer Read of 2025 · A Christian Science Monitor Best Book of June

“A wonderfully observed—actually, flat-out wonderful—historical novel.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Richly imagined . . . Stiefvater’s prose is as pungent as the sweetwater, with a snap that suggests the whimsy of a veteran storyteller.” —The New York Times

#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.
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  • Accessibility

    The publisher provides the following statement about the accessibility of the EPUB file supplied to OverDrive. Experiences may vary across reading systems. After borrowing the book, you may download the EPUB files to read in another reading system.

    Summary

    This ebook features mark-up that supports accessibility and enables compatibility with assistive technology. It has been designed to allow display properties to be modified by the reader. The file includes a table of contents, a defined reading order, and ARIA roles to identify key sections and improve the reading experience. A page list and page break locations help readers coordinate with the print edition. Headings allow readers to navigate the ebook quickly by level. Images are well described in conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Colors meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA contrast standards. There are no hazards.

    Ways Of Reading

    • Appearance of the text and page layout can be modified according to the capabilities of the reading system (font family and font size, spaces between paragraphs, sentences, words, and letters, as well as color of background and text).

    • All content can be read as read aloud speech or dynamic braille.

    • Has alternative text descriptions for images.

    Conformance

    • The publication contains a conformance statement that it meets the EPUB Accessibility and WCAG 2 Level AA standard.

    • This publication claims to meet EPUB Accessibility 1.1 WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

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    • Table of contents to all chapters of the text via links.

    • Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation.

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  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from April 1, 2025

      It's January 1942, and in the immediate aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, the regal Avallon Hotel in rural West Virginia has been requisitioned by the United States government as a detention center for diplomats from Axis countries. General manager June Hudson, who controls the hotel and the mysterious sweetwater that runs through the property, must convince her staff--men who are worried about being drafted into the war, and women with family members heading off to fight--to offer the same level of service to the detainees as they do to their regular guests. Complicating matters is the presence of the State Department and the FBI, especially mysterious agent Tucker Minnick, who has more of a connection to the region and the sweetwater than he initially lets on. June must be careful as she navigates her loyalties to the hotel and the realities of life during wartime. VERDICT YA author Stiefvater's ("The Raven Cycle") first foray into historical fiction retains her unique voice and signature magical realism. Well-drawn characters and excellent worldbuilding bring a little-known element of World War II to life in this must-read for all historical fiction fans.--Whitney Kramer

      Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Kirkus

      Starred review from May 15, 2025
      The true story of Axis diplomats detained in the U.S. at the start of World War II is transformed into a dazzling historical novel set at a sumptuous West Virginia hotel. Bestselling YA fantasy author Stiefvater's adult debut introduces a writer whose prodigious imagination and distinctive prose style have combined to create a novel that will remind readers of why they fell in love with reading in the first place. At its center is the captivating June Hudson, an erstwhile Appalachian orphan who was taken in by the wealthy Gilfoyle family, owners of the Avallon Hotel & Spa, a high-society retreat built over underground mineral springs. At his death, the patriarch bequeathed ownership to his playboy son, Edgar, but made June the general manager, as she had spent her life learning the business--and also shared with Gilfoyle Sr. a rare gift relating to the "sweetwater" springs, a fantastical element of this otherwise realistic novel. Aside from the magical waters and a few other fanciful details, Stiefvater's fictional world is based on extensive research into high-end hotels of the period, creating a version of luxury so appealing that readers will wish they could check into the Avallon and stay on indefinitely. In fact, the novel revolves around the true meaning of luxury. To June, it has nothing to do with wealth; it is more connected to joy, and to the book's title: "June had long ago discovered that most people were bad listeners; they thoughtlistening was synonymous withhearing. But the spoken was only half a conversation. True needs, wants, fears, and hopes hid not in the words that were said, but in the ones that weren't, and all these formed the core of luxury." Also brilliantly managed is the rest of the ensemble cast: sexy FBI agents; June's inimitable staff; the delegations of Japanese, Germans, and Italians detained at the hotel, some quite nasty, but among them a strange, special, totally silent child. And on top of all this, a delicious love story! This luxurious novel is set to take the world by storm.

      COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      Starred review from June 1, 2025
      June ""Hoss"" Hudson, general manager of the Avalon in West Virginia, listens to the water that runs through the springs under the hotel. A mentorship with the late owner gave her a deep understanding of the notion of luxury, and she and her staff keep obsessive tabs on their guests' needs. That doesn't change when, in 1942, the State Department commandeers the hotel for Axis diplomats and their families--the guests may be different, but the Avalon has a reputation to uphold. Special Agent Tucker Minnick listens in on phone calls at the hotel. He has ties to the region, but he is a Bureau man and won't let a painful past get in the way of him doing his job. The last listener is Hannelore Wolfe, the daughter of the German cultural attach�, who is nonverbal except for the songs her father teaches her. YA fantasy author Stiefvater's first novel for adults is centered around a supremely competent woman at the mercy of the waters and the tides of history. Though events rarely leave the hotel grounds, the book feels epic, and the characters and storylines bob and weave until the stunning conclusion. Highly recommended for fans of engrossing WWII-set fiction. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Stiefvater is the latest big-name YA author to venture into the adult space, and her historical-fiction novel with a hint of homespun fantasy is a rousing success.

      COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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