The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater

THE LISTENERS is a mix of historical fiction, sprinkled with magic, and romance as well as being the adult debut from the best-selling young adult author Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver, The Raven Boys, All the Crooked Saints and many more). Set in the early 1940s during WWII, the focus is on a fictional West Virginian resort hotel called the Avallon (think The Greenbrier or The Homestead) where the extremely capable general manager is a young, local woman named June Hudson. Through compassion and understanding, she fosters the loyalty and affection of her staff and even many of the hotel guests: “June had long ago discovered that most people were bad listeners; they thought listening was synonymous with hearing. But the spoken was only half a conversation. True needs, wants, fears, and hopes hid not in the words that were said, but in the ones that weren't...” Friction ensues when FBI agents (Tucker Rye Minnick, Hugh Calloway, and Pony Harris) and State Department (Benjamin Pennybacker) representatives arrive because the hotel is ordered to provide lodging for an array of diplomats (German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese), their staff, and other foreign nationals (journalists, pilots) prior to their being repatriated. It is a big ask for locals, many of whom have relatives serving in the US military, but June facilitates the stay while also mourning the recently deceased hotel owner, navigating her own romantic feelings, and managing the magical waters associated with the hotel. THE LISTENERS, the Top Pick LibraryReads selection for June 2025, received a starred review from Booklist, Library Journal, and Kirkus (“A novel that will remind readers of why they fell in love with reading in the first place.”). In the author’s notes, Stiefvater suggests several other books to serve as “accessible starting points” about the background history.