On Bear Mountain

My grandmother recommended this book to me and when I finally picked it up, I couldn't put it down. The novel has two stories. In one, a scupltor struggles with his career and family and is comissioned to build a bear out of scrap metal for a small southern town. The second story details how the bear scuplture divides the town into those who love it and those who hate it. One man in particular is moved by the sculpture and it becomes a symbol of his family. Years later, the scupltor's son comes to claim the bear from the man's daughter meet. The result is tension, small-town gossip, and eventually some romance. This story is very unique, full of interesting characters. It is a nice, deep story in contrast to the many light-hearted Bridget Jones novels that are so popular today.

Ursula Powell and Quentin Ricconni come to know each other through circumstances beyond their control. The past haunts both of them in a way neither can imagine. Drawn together by a sculpture of a great spirit Bear created by Quentin's long dead father, the quest to reconcile their past begins.
Superstition and blood feuds are a way of life deep in the Georgia Mountains. For generations the Powell's and the Tiber's have lived side by side as kin and as foe. Ursula is drawn back to her roots when her father dies suddenly leaving her a run down artist's commune and the sole protector of her mentally challenged younger brother. She is faced with the realization that her brother cannot live in the city and barring institutionalizing him she must return home.
While demolishing an old warehouse Quentin finds a long lost letter that brings to light a piece of his father's legacy that he had thought gone forever. He desperately wants to find the Great Bear and return it to his mother as part of his father's legacy in art. All indications are that the Powell family on Bear Mountain owns it. He doesn't bargain for the depth of feeling Ursula and her brother have for the bear, love and hatred combined.
Learning to love and to trust again, Quentin and Ursula come together in a beautifully written story. This book has wonderful elements of intrigue and surprise as well as romance. I would rate this book as a 4.5 if possible. Great work!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was not a story to hurridly skim through. It took some deep thought and visualization, especially to picture the bear. ...[And]the gun firing accidently ...I belive it can and does happen more than we know. For instance kids that play with guns and they go off...I was amazed to see people criticize this story and not even get the names right. The hero was Quentin, not Richard, that was his dad the original sculpter.

Love this book - vendor mailed within a week. Thank You.

On Bear Mountain by Deborah Smith is one of the finest well written stories I have ever read.
This rates right up there with Jan Karon's Father Tim series.
I would love to see Deborah, continue this story with several sequels.

Wow, this is a beautifully crafted book filled with characters who leap off the pages and into your heart. These aren't perfect people, they've made mistakes and make a few during the course of the book which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. I have a short attention span these days and most books simply bore me or just plain annoy me. Despite a few obvious tear-jerking plot contrivances this is one that'll stick with me for a bit and one of the better books I've read this year.