"The Listeners" | Reviewed by Pat Sainz

“The Listeners,” by Maggie Stiefvater, is a World War II historical fiction novel based on true stories of United States hotels, such as West Virginia’s Greenbrier Hotel, Pennsylvania’s Hershey Hotel, and Arizona’s TriangleT Ranch. 

Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, all the hotels housed ambassadors and high-ranking government officials working in Washington, D.C., higher-ups from Italy, Germany, and Japan who likely had access to North American war plans and infrastructure.

            June Hudson is the manager of the fictional Avallon Hotel in West Virginia. She is instructed by the wealthy Guilfoyle’s, owners of the hotel, to extend the same courtesy and attention to the Nazis as she would to any guest.  June and the hotel staff hesitate to go along with the plan until they are reminded that American diplomats are receiving the same treatment overseas. If the Japanese, the Italians, and the Germans are treated badly so will the Americans be treated badly.  

            “The Listeners” is an apt title for this novel because there are listeners everywhere. FBI agents plant listening devices all over the hotel.  A mute child named Hannalore cannot speak but she can sing. She unknowingly sings codes taught to her by her high-ranking German father. The agents learn that she is giving Axis leaders American war secrets. The staff, some of whom can speak the language of the diplomats, listen and learn as they serve their unwitting guests. 

            In a subplot of magical realism, sensitive staff and guests can “listen” to the sweetwater (fresh water) that runs under the hotel, within the bath spas, and in the fountains that grace both the inside and outside of the hotel. As the water reacts to evil in the hotel, the tension grows exponentially. 

            The Nazi diplomats were forced to return to their countries in May of 1942 when it was revealed that their American peers were being tortured in the hotels in which they were staying overseas. Meanwhile, the Nazis were being treated with nothing but grace and dignity.

            Some of the foreign diplomats were sympathetic to the American cause and distressed over what was happening in their countries. They were sure to face certain death upon return. The parents of 13-year-old Hannalore know that because of her inability to speak words, and because of her tantrums, she will be sterilized at best or killed at worst. American women who married foreign diplomats had to make a choice about their marriages.

            When the captives return to their homes, the Avallon, and the lives of those invested in making the Avallon the best hotel in America, are changed forever.

            Author Maggie Stiefvater is a well-known author of young adult literature. This is her debut adult novel, one that presents a fascinating part of World War II history.

            Buy the Book.