5-STAR REVIEW: THESE BLUE MOUNTAINS by Sarah Loudin Thomas

Publication Date: July 15, 2025

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel’s world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda is stunned to see Fritz’s name in a photograph of an American memorial for German seamen who died near Asheville, North Carolina. Determined to reclaim his body and bring closure to his ailing mother, Hedda travels to the US. Her quest takes a shocking turn when, rather than Fritz’s body, his casket contains the remains of a woman who died under mysterious circumstances.

Local deputy Garland Jones thought he’d left that dark chapter behind when he helped bury Fritz Meyer’s coffin. The unexpected arrival of Hedda, a long-suffering yet captivating woman, forces him to confront how much of the truth he really knows. As they work together to uncover the identity of the woman in the casket and to unravel Fritz’s fate, Hedda and Garland grow closer. But with Hedda in the US on borrowed time while Hitler rises to power in Germany, she fears she’ll be forced to return home before she can put the ghosts of her past to rest.

This inspirational historical fiction is set in the mountains of North Carolina in the tumultuous years before World War II. With threads of intrigue, romance, and an international cast of characters, These Blue Mountains is the perfect book club pick and Southern fiction read.

For more than 14 years, Hedda Schlagel has mourned her German fiancé after losing contact when he was sent to a camp in America during World War I.

At the urging of Fritz’s mother following a newspaper article, Hedda leaves Berlin for America in an effort to determine if Fritz was among the German seamen who died of typhoid and was buried in North Carolina.

Author Sarah Loudin Thomas weaves in a theme of loss with a fascinating mystery in These Blue Mountains. Hedda’s character is multi-faceted—on one hand, she seeks closure, which demonstrates an unfailing sense of devotion. On the other hand, she experiences a sense of freedom for the first time. Her fascination for the beauty of the North Carolina landscape is infectious.

As Hedda discovers many reasons for staying in America, including a smitten deputy named Garland, a plot twist creates a crossroads. Will she make a place for herself as a pianist and find happiness, or will she return to a Hitler-dominated Germany?

These Blue Mountains serves up a charming cast of characters wrestling with a fascinating mystery connecting Germany and the United States.

Sarah Loudin Thomas is the author of numerous acclaimed novels and winner of the 2021 Selah Book of the Year and of the 2015 INSPY Award. She has worked in public relations for Biltmore Estate and is now the director of Jan Karon’s Mitford Museum. She and her husband live in western North Carolina.