Gilded Mountain, Kate Manning, author, Dawn Harvey, narrator
Based loosely on historic events and people, Gilded Mountain shines a light on life in rural areas early in the 20th century. In the fictitious Moonstone, Colorado, Jacques Pelletier, “Frenchy”, works in a quarry owned by the Padgett family. These are the rich and entitled people who control much of the life there with their money and their jobs. The employees are treated like slaves, living in squalid conditions, receiving pay that they are forced to basically relinquish to supply what they need to live on, from the company store, so that they are essentially completely dependent on their employer and have no autonomy or opportunity to improve their lives or escape from the prison the mine has created for them.
Jacques becomes involved with an effort to unionize the quarry he works in, and though loved by his fellow miners, he is feared by the owners of the mine. He is a known agitator and has already been exiled from another mining town. He can disrupt the Padgett fiefdom and is unwelcome. The Padgett family and their henchman rule the town and surrounding area, because of their wealth, and they have complete control of all areas of life, destroying anything and anyone that gets in their way. In addition, although slavery has been abolished, the Padgetts and their associates do not treat anyone with respect or dignity, and Easter Grady, who works at Elkhorne, “the castle”, is a prime example. Padgett is known as the Duke, but he has no royal lineage.
“Frenchie” Pelletier brings his family to Moonstone from Rutland, Vermont, and his daughter Sylvie, a teenager, becomes enthralled with the son of the mine owner, Jasper Padgett. Jace is a ladies’ man, and he is also a young man with an unfortunate passion for alcohol. Unlike his father, however, he cares about the workers. His stepmom, the Comtesse Ingeborg LaFollette deChassy Padgett, also seems to care, though she also seems rather flighty and entitled. She is creating a “sociological” philosophy to better the employee’s working and living conditions and has set up departments to further their interests wherever the Padgett’s do business. There is no way that Mr. Padgett will participate in her compassionate treatment of his employees.
Sylvie Pelletier obtains a job with K. T. Redmond at the Moonstone Record, the newspaper she founded. Sylvie works there as a kind of “spy”, bringing tips for stories and occasionally writing one. Redmond’s character is similar to Sylvia Smith, the editor of the Marble Booster in Marble Colorado. It seems to me that it is her personality and lifestyle that lends itself to the characters of Redmond and Sylvie.
(https://thecrystalvalleyecho.com/sylvia-smith)
As Sylvie becomes more and more involved in her life in Moonstone, working for the Padgett family, for the “royal” wife of the “Duke”, as well as working for The Record, she learns more about her father’s effort to unionize the workers and meets the real and very famous union organizer, Mother Jones. Mary Harris Jones was indeed a very active and well- known organizer who called the masses, men and women, to action to gain their “freedom” from their slave environment. Known for her crude, but strong and courageous demeanor, she was very influential in the union movement and in the movement for women’s rights as well as worker’s rights.
(https://www.thoughtco.com/mary-harris-mother-jones-3529786)
I believe the story was a little contrived and too dependent on romantic threads to illustrate the history appropriately. Although the history of the Utes was mentioned, little attention was given to Native Americans. I felt a lack of information on the history, and rather an emphasis on the coming of age of this one character, Sylvie, in a town that promoted the disrespect of its citizens in favor of greed and entitlement. That was the major point made in the novel for me. Civil rights and women’s rights and worker’s rights were glossed over or treated too casually, at times. The unions were necessary at that time in order to establish justice for the workers. For women, it took a lot longer to establish justice. For the enslaved people, freedom came at a cost that they are still forced to pay, today.
I felt as if the characters were developed more like caricatures of real people, and the history and backgrounds were not developed broadly enough to explain their historic importance. The focus of the book, instead, seemed to be to promote the many “progressive” issues of our current political atmosphere. Quarry workers were compared to slaves, housekeepers were “used”, raped, by their employees who basically owned them because of their power, the white population was far more entitled and the shameful treatment of black people is highlighted, although the reader does not ever really get involved in their lives or problems except regarding the cruel effects of the social order and the lack of respect or concern for the biracial offspring resulting from the rape of “property”.
The author’s great grandfather was the President and General Manager of a marble company that helped to build the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Colorado Yule Marble. I hope he was not like the owner of the Padgett quarry. Interesting bits and pieces, facts about the history of Colorado and the Labor Movement are thrown in, almost casually, so the major focus of the novel gets lost in some trivial dialogue and romantic interludes that often required the suspension of disbelief. W. E. B DeBois is mentioned in the book, but his important character is not developed and seems irrelevant instead of emphasizing how important he was at the time, and still is today.
The narrator of the book overemphasized the voices of the characters, often making them sound childish and unrealistic. Perhaps it was her reading that made me feel the book fell short in what I perceived as its intended purpose. Her reading of the narrative gave it more of a feeling of chick lit or a young adult novel, rather than an attempt to describe the lawless atmosphere of the West in small towns.
In the “wild” West, there was an absence of protection for ordinary citizens, and the power of the buck in the “wild” West ruled. There was no restraint on the part of the lawless, there was little organized religion or government aid, and the atmosphere was therefore often raucous and wild, without law and order. In some ways, the pattern of abuse and entitlement, lawlessness and lack of rights, exists today in our current political atmosphere in which only some have the right to speak and others are silenced. ( )

Despite the tiring overuse of foreshadowing, this novel reads quickly. ( )

Sylvie and her family live in a tiny marble mining town dominated by the company. When Sylvie has the opportunity to work at the newspaper, she jumps at the chance. During the summer, she has the opportunity to work for the owners of the company. While there, she realizes that they live a lavish lifestyle, while the miners and their families are left to freeze and starve. Drawn to the son, Jasper, she is torn between her loyalty to her family, and the company. When union organizers come to down, Sylvie must finally decide where her loyalties lie.

This book was very easy to sink into. The world was beautifully described, I could really see and feel the town and its inhabitants. I was less interested in Sylvie and Jasper, and much more interested in the union and strikers. I've read very few books on union organizers and labor rights and found the topic fascinated. Overall, highly recommended. ( )