Wild Mountain--Interesting but Definitely Fiction

Wild Mountain by Nancy Hayes Kilgore
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Although Vermont is, comparatively, a small State it is quite different geographically and, in light of this book more importantly, very different demographically. While it is impossible to say that people like these don't exist in Vermont, the Subaru van drivers, BMW and Mini Cooper drivers, tend to be in various pockets throughout the State, primarily in the more affluent places. This story takes place in such an area--somewhere on the west side of the State, slightly slightly east of Route 100, which runs up the valley that includes Waitsfield, Warren and starts in Killington. It terminates up toward Montpelier, well described here, and Stowe. Lots of different types throughout this quadrant. So, if you don't know much about Vermont or have never been here, you can accept this story taking place in this small area.
There are some issues however when it comes to describing the " locals" Not all the men have raggedy beards to their belts, nor do they have hair to their waists. They do not all yell at their children or throw their phones against the wall. The women are not all either Earth mothers or women carrying squalling babies, each of them with straggly greasy unkempt hair. And, while Sarducci's is indeed a lovely Italian restaurant in Montpelier, it is a tradition only to non-locals, who are far more likely to be at the Wayside or even the old Justin Morgan Room on State Street.
There are the leftover commune dwellers, most of whom were not from Vermont, and back to nature types and they have become part of the tapestry that is modern Vermont. This book is more about them--though a couple of the main characters are purported to be old family residents. As to the covered bridge--they have a new bridge but it is not the original. True locals would have accepted nature having removed the old bridge and kept its memories and not have spent an outrageous amount of money to " replace " something that is irreplaceable. Sort of like the efforts, that quickly died, in New Hampshire when the " Old Man" rock formation finally fell to expanding ice and gravity and some folks wanted to create a " replacement". Some things just change with time, just like Vermont has done and though sometimes it doesn't seem like a good thing, it is also not something that can be stopped.
I received an ARC of this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review. It is an interesting book but don't take it as a definitive description of all of Vermont and its people.

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