Winner of the Vermont Writer’s Prize
Vermonter Mona Duval loves the covered bridge beside her store. She loves local history and the rugged, rural nature of her home state. But when an ice storm collapses the bridge, she is bereft. Frank MacFarland, a seasonal resident who is beguiled by Mona, lends his political expertise to help rebuild the bridge. But they meet with powerful opposition. Tensions arise in the town, compounded by resistance to the soon-to-be-voted on Freedom to Marry bill. And then, unexpectedly, Mona’s abusive ex-husband arrives. Wild Mountain is a page-turning, beautifully written novel about the love between Frank and Mona, the love of place, freedom to marry, and freedom from the past, by a writer whose prose has been compared to Alice Munro’s.
Praise of the work of Nancy Hayes Kilgore:
“Vibrant…evocative…treads the same territory as Alice Munro”–Seven Days
“– brings to life the tensions that arise when a new minister is taken on by a congregation mired in its traditions.” –C. Michael Curtis, Fiction Editor, The Atlantic
Praise for Wild Mountain:
Nancy Kilgore skillfully peels away the layers of what might otherwise be a quaint town inVermont. She has keen insight into human strength and frailty and unleashes a cauldron of history, magic, secrets, petty politics flavored with the Freedom to Marry bill, and love. A fine book by a talented writer.” —Jacqueline Sheehan, NYTimes bestselling author of A Tiger in the House
“I loved everything about this book. The interesting characters and how they relate to each other; and the importance of not only those individuals, but the importance of place.” —Leanne Milliman, librarian on Netgalley.com
“The places and characters are so vivid and real, I felt like I was there with them. I wanted to wrap the story around myself like a coat.” —Kim Church, author of Byrd
“This warm-hearted and compulsively readable love story is the perfect accompaniment for a summer afternoon or a cozy winter night beside the woodstove. With its wry good humor, deftly-painted characters, and vivid rural settings, Wild Mountain captures the essence of life in small-town Vermont.” —Tim Weed, author of A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing
“The characters are not the only recipients of Kilgore’s keen eye and deeply felt prose. Her descriptions of the Vermont landscape are vivid and accurate, and belie the author’s love for Vermont: the setting for the novel. Her writing throughout is lyrical, and her images often startling.”
—Katharine Britton, Upper Valley News “Off the Bookshelf”
“Kilgore weaves a tight tale about the complications of a community at odds….Wild Mountain is a quiet, beautiful novel full of sensuous descriptions of rural Vermont and the lives of those who reside there….The book’s central problem—our inability to communicate and understand—is what makes this book’s central message so relevant today.”—Lambda Literary
“Presenting small-town life with strong descriptive prose and empathy, Kilgore eventually arrives at a heartening message of reconciliation.” —Margot Harrison, SevenDays
And Nancy Kilgore interview on FWR with Kim Church, Fiction Writers Review:
Nancy Hayes Kilgore, a writer and psychotherapist, and was 2016’s winner of the Vermont Writer’s Prize. Her writing has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and her first novel, Sea Level, was a Foreword Reviews Book of the Year. Formerly a parish pastor, Nancy leads workshops on writing and spirituality for clergy, therapists, and writers throughout the U.S. She lives in Vermont with her husband, a painter, and expresses her passion for nature, spirituality, and psychology through writing.Author’s website: nancykilgore.com.
Specs:
Publication Date: October 1, 2017
Category: Contemporary Fiction, Women’s Fiction
ISBN: 978-0-9987012-3-3 Price: 19.95
Format: Trade Paperback Page Count: 304
Available from: Midpoint, Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Parson Weems
First Print Run: 1,500 BISACS: FIC044000 FICTION Contemporary Women
The author is represented by Caitlin Hamilton Marketing
Caitlin Hamilton Summie & Rick Summie 865-675-3776
caitlin@caitlinhamiltonmarketing.com rick@caitlinhamiltonmarketing.com
Marketing: National Media Campaign, blog tour, events in the Northeast, social media
Review copies available upon request