West Virginia Books: The Best Books Set in the Mountain State

Book Summary

Scarlett Bodine’s brothers raised her to be a whiskey-slinging, toolbelt-wearing, two-stepping, hell-raising tomboy. She’s perfectly content running the local bar in Bootleg Springs, West Virginia, and wrangling her colorful family. She has convinced herself that she has no interest in love.

Having recently lost his marriage and political career, sexy city-slicker Devlin arrives in Bootleg Springs at a personal rock bottom. Scarlett is only being neighborly when she takes Devlin on as her pet project, determined to help him get back on his feet.

As their connection deepens, Scarlett will have to face the fact that helping Devlin get back on his feet might mean that he’ll leave Bootleg Springs. When a local mystery—the cold case disappearance of a teen girl—resurfaces in the news, the tables turn and Scarlett needs Devlin’s help to survive the scandal.

Book Summary

Set in the aftermath of the Civil War, this novel follows twelve-year-old ConaLee, who is left at the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane by her mother. Surrounded by the Appalachian hills, it’s a place filled with shadows, heartbreak, and unexpected moments of kindness.

As ConaLee tries to understand her new world, two other stories begin to unfold. We learn that her mother, Eliza, is caught in the turmoil of a country trying to recover from war. We also see the point of view of a wounded Union veteran, whose storyline weaves in themes of trauma and memory.

Rather than focusing on the battles or politics of the Civil War, the author shines a light on the personal side of history, focusing on how people endure, connect, and carry on amid impossible circumstances.

Book Summary

Patience Murphy is an Appalachian midwife during the Depression. She has to fight against disease, poverty, prejudices, and her past as she works to bring new life into the world safely. Initially, Patience must take the most challenging jobs that no one else wants to gain community trust. Her patients are those most in need, but least likely to pay.

Outside of her midwifery, Patience encounters the horrors of coal mining, the Labor movement’s Union Wars, and the Ku Klux Klan.

Book Summary

Three elderly men are gunned down at a local diner in Acker’s Gap, West Virginia, in front of many of their fellow locals, but no one seems to have gotten a good look at the shooter. Now it’s up to the authorities to try to piece together whether this is a random event, whether the men were targeted, or whether it’s connected to the drug violence plaguing struggling communities.

Teenager Carla Elkins, whose mom is the prosecuting attorney for Raythune County, was one of the witnesses to the shooting. In the aftermath of the event, she believes she might be able to help her mom, and maybe even repair their relationship in the process. But could her involvement actually do more harm than good? And might she be putting her own life in danger?

Book Summary

Coal miners were exposed to horrific working conditions, and in 1920 began to fight back against their inhuman treatment in what became known as the West Virginia Mine Wars or Coal Wars.

The conflicts peaked in 1921 in the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed conflict on American soil since the Civil War. Over ten thousand coal workers fought to be treated like humans against the mine owners, state militia, and the United States government in the largest labor uprising in American history.

The historical story is told from multiple perspectives, including “Doc Moo” Muhanna, a Lebanese-American doctor, and Frank Hugham, a Black World War I veteran and coal miner. You’ll also meet Mother Jones, an Irish-born labor organizer once known as “The Most Dangerous Woman in America.”

Book Summary

At just 19 years old, Alafair Sizemore Slone has already suffered her share of losses, but she’s hopeful that she’ll be able to build a future with her husband, Travis. She journeys to Chemame Creek, West Virginia, where Travis is working at a coal camp, knowing that her new way of life will be very different than how she grew up on a farm in Virginia, but she’s certain she’s up for the challenge.

When she arrives, however, she discovers that Travis has changed a lot during the month they’ve been apart. He stays out late and is burning through his earnings.

When a mine accident leaves Travis injured, their lack of savings forces Alafair to make a decision that will forever affect her life and marriage, as well of the lives of the other women in Chemame Creek.

Book Summary

Max has made himself a promise to finally ask a woman out for the first time in nearly a decade. He has his heart set on Hannah, the beautiful water aerobics instructor at his gym. But little does he know that Hannah has also made a promise to herself – to swear off men.

When they are unexpectedly forced to quarantine together, Hannah is committed to keeping their relationship platonic (despite how sexy Max is). What she didn’t count on was that he’s as kind and caring as he is cute.

Will keeping her promise to herself keep her from getting hurt, or is denying her feelings for Max the thing that will hurt her most of all?

Book Summary

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the hills of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, were a playground for presidents and film stars. And in the mid-1800s, the Greenbrier Resort provided them with luxurious accommodations. This historical fiction saga tells the story of four generations of a Jewish family living in the shadow of the resort for one hundred years.

In 1909, Sol immigrates to America, where he opens a general store in White Sulphur Springs.

In 1942, Sylvia is a young mother determined to leave behind a troubled marriage and the burden of helping run the general store that her father-in-law founded. When the Greenbrier is commandeered by the government for use as a luxury prison, Sylvia’s loyalties are challenged.

In 1959, Sylvia’s teenage daughter, Doree, is counting the days until she can leave her hometown to attend college, where she also hopes to meet a nice Jewish boyfriend. In the meantime, however, a handsome stranger arrives in town and piques her brother Alan’s curiosity, putting his family at risk.

In 1992, Jordan, a reporter for The Washington Post, receives an anonymous letter about the Greenbrier. He’s intrigued because he knows his mother, Doree, was born in White Sulphur Springs, but doesn’t like talking about her years there.

Book Summary

Siblings Macy and Bo, both nursing broken hearts, are reunited as they move back to their hometown in West Virginia. Bo has an idea for a new business, a coffee shop where people can interact with dogs from the local shelter. Although his idea seems unusual, the siblings are determined to make this venture work.   

When the golf pro at the country club is murdered, Macy ends up adopting his Great Dane. She finds a mysterious message on the underside of the dog’s collar, and she immediately thinks the message is connected to the murder.  

Book Summary

In early 1942, June Porter Hudson—raised from humble Appalachian roots—runs the opulent Avallon Hotel & Spa nestled in the West Virginia mountains. Under June’s skilled leadership, the hotel has provided guests with a luxurious escape from the worries of WWII.

Things take a dramatic turn when a member of the aristocratic Gilfoyle family that owns the hotel makes a secret deal with the State Department to house captured Axis diplomats at the hotel. June must try to convince her staff, many of whom have husbands and sons fighting on the front lines, to provide luxury service with a smile to the Nazis.

FBI Agent and Appalachian native, Tucker Minnick, is monitoring the detained diplomats, listening for their secrets. But he’s not the only one listening. The sweetwater spring beneath the resort also listens to everything around it. As the spring responds in subtle ways, it can quietly shape the moods, memories, and even healing of the guests and staff alike.

Book Summary

In 1957, Homer Hickman was 14 years old, living in the company town of Coalwood, West Virginia. The only thing that mattered was coal mining and high school football. But then, Homer witnessed the Sputnik shoot across the Appalachian sky. His life changed in that moment.

He soon started a club with friends Roy Lee Cook, Sherman O’Dell, and Quentin Wilson. Together, they began designing and launching homemade rockets. Through this process, they learned the science needed to send scrap metal miles into the sky. But that wasn’t the biggest win. They also learned to imagine a life beyond the borders of their small town.

Hickman wrote this coming-of-age memoir looking back on his childhood after his distinguished NASA career.

Book Summary

This historical fiction novel takes place in Depression-era Appalachia and is set against the backdrop of one of the worst industrial tragedies in US history. The year is 1932, and the construction of the Hawks Nest Tunnel has created work for hundreds of men. This seemed like a blessing for the region until it became clear that the working conditions were killing many men, and no one seemed to care.

Book Summary

Set in the present day, this novel features a couple and their four children. The nearby strip mining is threatening both nature and their home.

Fifteen-year-old Bant is starting a relationship with a coal miner she met at the motel where she works, while her mother, Lace, is starting to fight against the mining companies.