The Listeners - by Maggie Stiefvater (Hardcover)

About the Book

"January 1942. The Avallon Hotel & Spa is where high society goes to see and be seen. Located deep in the West Virginia mountains, where healing sweetwater flows, the hotel is managed by a local, June Hudson, whose skills were noted by the wealthy Guilfoyles who own the place. War has begun, and June is trying to shield the Avallon from it, but when the owner's son makes a deal with the State Department to house dozens of Axis diplomats, June must convince her staff-many of whom have sons and husbands heading to battle-to offer luxury to Nazis for the war effort. Peacefully. Meanwhile, FBI agent Tucker Minnick is searching for a spy among the detainees. He has his own history with West Virginia and would have done anything to avoid coming back, but this mission is an exile that he can't escape unless he earns it. As tension grows between locals and the detainees, Tucker's spy games disturb the peace, and the eerie sweetwater proves more dangerous than once thought. June's future at the Avallon hangs in the balance - but who is she without the hotel? And what is it without her? Maggie Stiefvater makes her adult fiction debut in this mesmerizing portrait of an unlikely heroine, a hotel-and a world-in peril, and the love that can bloom even in such unlikely circumstances"--

Book Synopsis

#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 AND SPA offers elegance and sophistication in an increasingly ugly world. Run with precision by June Hudson, the hotel's West Virginia born-and-bred general manager, the Avallon is where high society goes to see and be seen, and where the mountain sweetwater in the fountains and spas can wash away all your troubles.

June was trained by the Gilfoyles, the hotel's aristocratic owners, and she has guided the Avallon skillfully through the first pangs of war. Now, though, the Gilfoyle family heir has made a secret deal with the State Department to fill the hotel with captured Axis diplomats. June must convince her staff--many of whom have sons and husbands heading to the frontlines--to offer luxury to Nazis. With a smile.

She also must reckon with Tucker Minnick, the FBI agent whose coal tattoo hints at their shared past in the mountains, and whose search for the diplomats' secrets disrupts the peace June is fighting so hard to maintain. Hers is a balancing act with dangerous consequences; the sweetwater beneath the hotel can threaten as well as heal, and only June can manage the springs.

As dark alliances and an elusive spy crack the polished veneer of the Avallon, June must calculate the true cost of luxury.

About the Author

Maggie Stiefvater is the New York Times bestselling author of the Shiver trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio Races, among dozens of other YA fantasy novels. Her books have sold over five million copies around the world. She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband and their two children.