The Mountain

The Valley Trilogy

by Helen Bryan

From Helen Bryan, bestselling author of War Brides, The Sisterhood, and The Valley, comes the second book in an epic trilogy told from multiple viewpoints—a story about the resilience, bravery, love, and unity that formed the foundation of the New World.

The frontier of the Commonwealth of Virginia, 1783. In the years since the first settlers arrived, looking to build new lives, the township of Grafton has flourished. Together, European immigrants, Native Americans, indentured servants, and former slaves have established a tight-knit community.

As time passes and America becomes a nation, Grafton is swept up in the tumult of the outside world. The Cherokees are rounded up and driven west. The Civil War leaves a long shadow. Newcomers make their mark, fortunes are won and lost, and loyalties are tested in the march of history.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adult, 18th Century

412 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 4, 2018

About the author

Helen Bryan is an American-born writer living in London for many years She qualified and practised as a barrister in England before giving up law to concentrate on a biography of fellow Virginian Martha Washington (MARTHA WASHINGTON FIRST LADY OF LIBERTY published by John Wiley in the USA in 2002 which won an Award of Merit from the Colonial Dames of America. WAR BRIDES (published by Penguin Books in the UK in 2007) is Helen's first novel. It features five young women, the war brides of the title, and is a multilayered saga of watime romances, a daring rescue plot, and long delayed revenge. It is now available on Kindle as well as paperback. A second novel, THE SISTERHOOD, will come out soon. Readers feedback and comments are welcome.

Reviews

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigh. Although you get a good dose of early American history, there are a lot of characters. So many that the oomph of the story gets lost in the crowd. That said, it's a good setting and Bryan clearly knows her stuff. I thought that the first book needed a strong editor to pare things away and it's true here as well. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I've liked Bryan's other work but this series hasn't been as successful for me.

[✨ Gramy ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

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I liked the premise of the book and found it interesting, but not compelling or captivating enough to encourage me to keep turning the pages as quickly as I could, as I usually enjoy with other genres. So I would give this 3.5 stars, rounding up to a 4.

It seems the author may have done a lot of research about Amerian history, but then didn't concentrate enough on limiting the characters in order to be able to develop them more fully. There were way too many characters and spouses to keep up with. Maybe concentrating on one family line might have made it somewhat easier to digest all the information.

This book spans over a 100-year span, yet a ten-year time frame between chapters is hard to digest. The reader does get a taste of the historical portrayal of what life in that time period was like, including conflict about slavery and indigenous people, superstitions, separation due to resettlement, and death of those people in the wilderness of American territories might have been like.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book OK, but it spans so much time and there are so many characters that I was lost a lot of the time. I kept reading in hopes that I would be able to catch up. I'm beginning to think that this series may not suit me. (I think that I gave The Valley 2 stars)

My thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this advanced readers copy.

[Colleen King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful

This is a wonderful book....written as close to "how it really was" as I've read
The only thing that stopped me from giving it the 5 star it deserves is the amount of characters in the book and their relationship to each other. A community "tree" at the beginning to refer to would have been a big help.

[Morris-Ken Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have learned so much

I have really enjoyed this series of a beautiful well written book. I like how the first book and the people loved together after escaping a.c.traveling to find d that she had inherited not what she had expected and made the best of it. This book is the continuation of the lives of the children. I loved how their families made a good and a profitable business owners that their children and the grandchildren grew, married and died. This book tells of a group of people who never saw race as different and all the inter married families lived and prospered. Sophia's passing and all of the first settlers and now they're children are passing away, in this book made me think of my own hometown and how it has changed in just 30 years. I don't know or can't even imagine where or how there is much to write about in the next book until I realize this series main character is the area and not really any one person or group. So ready to keep on going with the third book in this series.

[Michell Oldfather · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I like the story overall and the time period the jumps in time make this confusing. There are so many characters (which I do find them all interesting) to keep track of that when the story jumps ahead I had a hard time remembering who was related to whom. I think this book could have been expanded into 3 separate novels. We would have gotten to know each of the characters better and it would have been easier to remember who was who. Some characters you only see for a couple of chapters then later on in the book they are briefly mentioned again and it was hard to remember where they fit into the story. I really hope book 3 focuses on fewer characters. Or maybe the author could write some novellas to give us some more insight to some of the characters stories. I did listen to this book on audio and Kate Reading did an amazing job narrating!! I probably enjoyed the book more due to the narration.

[April Kniess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the first book in the trilogy better than this second book. There are so many characters to keep track of and years go by and they have children and grandchildren that makes it even harder. I do enjoy reading of the struggles the early pioneers had to overcome, yet as busy as they were just surviving they took time to bond and have relationships with each other. They were there in the good times and the tough times working through the hardships as friends and neighbors. I also enjoyed reading about some of the Indian folklore that stayed alive throughout the years as the stories were passed down through generations. Toward the end of the book I feel the author rushed through several years and suddenly there were new characters introduced and again it was hard to keep all the characters clear in my mind on who was who etc. I will read the third book.

[Mary Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this book, a continuance of the early settlers in Virginia! Though, it is so unlike the first book in the series. While the first book develops a core group of characters, this book spans 116 years in 390+ pages and one finds there is no attachment to any of the characters. In fact, there are so many intertwined characters over many generations that without a family tree it was confusing. Experiences & relationships of the first book were difficult to attach to the second.

[Miss Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved the first book in this series and had been really looking forward to this follow up. It started off really well with well known characters continuing the story. However the last third of the book suddenly started speeding up the time and characters came and went at such a speed that I lost track of who was who and who they were related to and how they fitted in the plot. The story lost any kind of plot and depth. It felt like the author was racing to get ready for the next book in a time far, far away. Disappointing.

[Paulette Geller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trilogy for readers eanting to escape to a different timr

I most enjoy reading books that draw one into the story, or in this case to a multigenerational saga. The more I read the more I appreciate Ms Bryan's story telling and attention to genealogy. These epic tomes give me insight to the multi cultural challenges occurring during the founding of our nation. It's my

y opinion that this trilogy is not intended to be an historically accurate portrayal , but rather provides a more subjective insight into the lives and times of the era.
Well done.

[Hilary Vernon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hurried and unweildy

I loved the first book with its complex interesting characters that the author took time to introduce us to and weave stories around but this second book seems to be a rush to introduce character after character jumping time frames up to ten years between chapter's
non of them are on the page long enough to get to know I stopped half way through as I didn't really know who anyone was anymore

[David Eckman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't attest whether this book is historically accurate. But I can verify that it rambles, with some history thrown in. There is no central plot, and although there is some character development, the incredible number of characters makes keeping up with them extremely difficult and dilutes what little character development there is. The writing style would be effective if the author could decide on a story line or plot and stick with it. I'm giving it 2 stars only because I read through it, but my reason for doing so was mostly to see if anything would be tied together-- It wasn't.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first book in this trilogy, The Valley, and the way the author, Ms. Bryan, weaves very visual stories about multiple generations in a small, midwestern town. As far as historical fiction goes, her accuracy and honesty to the lives that women, the poor, Native Americans and African Americans experiences are wonderful. At times the jump from one generation to the next can feel a little abrupt, but otherwise, I can't wait for her third book!

[Stevie Muller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first book of the series but was left disappointed and underwhelmed with this one and so I won’t be attempting the third. I found it had too many characters that were all briefly written about and interchanging and therefore I was unable to develop any connection with any of the characters. It spanned such a huge amount of time, sometimes a year each chapter that I also lost interest quickly and therefore found myself not excited to sit down and read the book or turn the pages.

[Holly Delaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as her first book in the series “The Valley”. It was hard to feel a part of many of the characters who’s lives were briefly mentioned, and hard to keep track of who was who’s descendants several generations down the line. It seemed more to be a brief history of the town in this book as opposed to a story do much about the people. I would have liked to follow the characters a little more closely.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zero substance

I only read this book because the first book in the series left SO many unanswered questions. A small amount were answered in this book, but it just became more and more frustrating. There are WAY too many characters introduced. It was really hard to keep track. And only snippets of their lives are given, so as soon as you get interested in a character, the author bounces to another, and so on.... Ugh!

[Linda D. Politte · Rating 5 out of 5]

On to the river.

this is a saga that one hopes will stir you as it has me. So much history. It seems so real. I would like to visit this valley, this mountain. See the old man in the mountain, feel the history. But all I really need to do is step outside, close my eyes and feel the history. I live in Tennessee. It was and is still a sacred place. Can't wait to find out what happens next. Excellent. I will read this trilogy again. On to book 3!

[Joan Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lives in transit

A charming story of life in the 1800s focusing on four families who homesteaded in a valley and telling of how their families and their town grew. Their lives were intertwined as they supported each other through hard and happy times. I recommend this book to people who enjoy historical novels. I received this book from Goodreads for free.

[TERESA LAPP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful sequel

Completes s the stories of The Valley, answers the questions of the first book and satisfied the historical outcomes. A well written, well rounded tale of what life...and death, could be like for American settlers and their descendants in the mountains of Virginia. Highly recommended. Hoping for Book3.

[Beverly Deumite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the history of both the first and second book of this trilogy; however, by the last third of the first book I'd lost tract of the characters. The second book, I was lost from the beginning. There were far too many characters and not enough time spent with a few key characters to develop them. Not sure I will read the third since I have no attachment to the characters.

[Kelly Obernuefemann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. The story has a lot of potential, but the pacing and organization are awful. Random new characters are inserted every few chapters with huge time jumps. And I do not understand the reason for the last 100 pages. So many story threads and characters were left unfinished.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of many generations

This is the second book in a trilogy. I enjoyed all the history that was throughout the book. It tells the story of generations of families. The only downside to the book was that I really didn't feel a connection to any of the characters.
This was a Goodreads win.

[Twila S Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was extremely difficult to follow. I enjoyed the first book (The Valley) but found this 2nd book felt disjointed. Too many shifts in characters. It was hard to keep track of who was related and how. At times it felt like this was several different books lumped together as one. I purchased the 3rd book in the series but probably won't be reading it.

[Toni Wittus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love history with different viewpoints of events and I think that’s why I fell in love with this book. As I read I kept notes of different characters and that helped me keep everything in place. Great read.

[Dolores A. Gleason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love historical fiction and I read The Valley quite awhile ago and enjoyed it but not a page turner. I agree with a lot of others there were too many characters belonging to different families to keep track of, I had to look back to make the connections.

["lesley anne Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

The src

this book brings the characters and their lives clearly into focus for the reader. the hardships and trials of those old pioneers were almost unimaginable to us who were brought up in the modern world I am looking forward to reading the final book in the trilogy

[Janet Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mountain (The Valley Triglogy Book 2)

I enjoyed the book very much! While reading this book it took me into the story, you hurt with the folks, laughed some, and cried with them.
Yes, I would recommend this book! Looking forward to book 3!

[Judy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to agree with other reviewers that there is really no plot here. These two books are more a timeline of events in America. So many characters and no plot means I will not be reading the third book.

[Cathie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This begins as a good story, continuing from book 1 for the series. It goes down hill from there. The last few chapters were so boring I almost didn't finish it. Will I read book 3, I don't think so.

[Rloqueen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful continuation

The Mountain is the second book in the trilogy. While there is a little overlap with The Valley (book 1) it continues the stories of the many characters and additional new ones. You really feel like you’re living their lives. On to book 3