The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater – Secrets Beneath Still Waters

WWII enemy diplomats lodge in West Virginia luxury. At least until the waters turn.

A short summary:

In The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater, a group of enemy diplomats is sequestered in a lavish West Virginia resort during World War II, isolated from the chaos of the outside world but not from the tension that simmers beneath their genteel confinement. What begins as a strange coexistence of privilege and paranoia soon takes a darker turn as the surrounding waters whisper secrets and unease grows within the hotel’s walls. Stiefvater blends historical intrigue with haunting lyricism, crafting a story where the boundaries between safety and danger, sanity and superstition, grow perilously thin.

My favorite quote:

"A prison's not defined by the beauty of the gates."

- Maggie Stiefvater, The Listeners

Questions to ponder while reading:

What is wealth?

What is luxury?

My review:

A new take on a WWII story, The Listeners transports readers far from the battlefield and into the opulent isolation of a mountain resort in West Virginia, where captured enemy diplomats are kept in uneasy luxury. Stiefvater’s signature lyricism turns confinement into a haunting study of atmosphere, where beauty, privilege, and fear all coexist beneath a veneer of civility. It’s a historical novel that refuses to tread familiar ground, choosing instead to explore the quieter, stranger corners of wartime life.

Rich in description and lushly detailed, the novel also becomes a meditation on the nature of wealth and the illusions it creates. The diplomats’ gilded captivity mirrors the broader human struggle between comfort and conscience, reminding readers how easily luxury can dull empathy and obscure truth. Stiefvater’s prose shimmers like light on water, beautiful, unsettling, and impossible to look away from.

 ****** *********************************

a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia. 

In addition to her travel writings at www.takethebackroads.com, you can also read her book reviews at www.riteoffancy.com and US military biographies at www.everydaypatriot.com

Her online photography gallery can be found at shop.takethebackroads.com

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