These Blue Mountains

Set in several North Carolina communities and in Berlin, Germany, in the 1930s, when the memory of the horrors of WWI continued to haunt people and the rising threat of Hitler and the Nazis loomed, this riveting novel based on several real events relates the fictional story of gifted pianist Hedda Schlagel.

When Hedda and Fritz Meyer fell in love and became engaged while still teens, Hedda was convinced that her future would be filled with love and happiness. But when the couple’s parents told them they must wait a few years to marry, Fritz took on a job as a sailor to earn money for their future.

Hedda’s life was forever altered when she learned that Fritz’s ship was commandeered by the U.S. Navy and all the sailors were interned in an enemy alien camp in Hot Springs, N.C.

Now, 15 years later, Hedda lives with Fritz’s ailing mother Lotte. Unexpectedly, Hedda learns that Fritz died of typhus, along with many of the other camp detainees. Determined to bring Fritz’s body home to his mother and country, and to put to rest the sad chapter of her unfulfilled dreams, Hedda travels to America. Soon after her arrival, she learns the shocking news that the coffin thought to contain Fritz’s remains instead holds those of a woman. Hedda is thrown into confusion: Who is this woman? If Fritz isn’t in the coffin, where is he? Could he be alive?

As Hedda grapples with the mystery and trials imposed on her by the actions of others years ago, she is buoyed up by the opportunity to grow in her artistic gift, the new friends she meets, and the unexpected relationship she develops with local deputy Garland Jones, a man with secrets and regrets that include Fritz and the woman discovered in his casket.

In These Blue Mountains, author Sarah Loudin Thomas combines mystery, romance, adventure, and descriptions of the beauty of the Appalachian region and the Blue Ridge Mountains in a pleasing blend. (Bethany House Publishers)