As the U.S. joins World War II, the manager of a luxury hotel set in the remote West Virginia mountains finds herself charged with the care of detained Nazi diplomats—and the FBI agent looking for a spy among them, by the #1 New York Times bestselling novelist Maggie Stiefvater.
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 unexpected attractions crack the polished veneer of the Avallon, June must calculate the true cost of luxury.
THE LISTENERS is a 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 unexpected attractions crack the polished veneer of the Avallon, June must calculate the true cost of luxury.
THE LISTENERS is a mesmerizing portrait of an irresistible heroine, an unlikely romance, and a hotel—and a world—in peril.
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First line:
The day the hotel changed forever began as any other.
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Source:
Source:
eARC from Netgalley in exhange for an honest review
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Publication Date:
June 3, 2025
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Rating:
4.5 Springs out of 5
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Maggie has written a masterful novel that keeps pulling you into the world. This is one of those novels that will read different every single time you read it, providing you with more insights, questions, and perspectives. Maggie is also a master at making the setting of her stories into their own characters. The looming presence of the Avallon and the mercurial spirit of the sweetwater add a magical and ethereal quality to this story that take it to the next level. And the ending provides just enough to be satisfying but little enough that I am begging for more.
June is the GM of the Avallon Hotel, the foremost hotel in luxury stays. After Pearl Harbor, the owner makes the decision to allow the State Department to hold foreign diplomats in the hotel in order to enter negotiations to have Americans returned from countries we are at war with. This throws the hotel into disarray, and June must keep order while also dealing with growing staff deficiencies from the draft. Her people love her, they rely on her, and she has to be strong and gracefully carry them and the hotel through every obstacle.
This is definitely one of the must-reads of the summer. And with quotes such as the one below, how can you resist?
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