{"id":96584,"date":"2026-08-27T06:00:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T10:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=96584"},"modified":"2026-08-26T19:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:47:27","slug":"book-feature-the-mountains-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-the-mountains-remember\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Feature:<\/strong> The Mountains Remember<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Renea Winchester, Author<\/p>\n

\"\"For her latest novel, The Mountains Remember,<\/em> Renea Winchester draws on actual accounts of what private landowners\u2014including her great-great-grandmother, Docia Queen Styles\u2014faced as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) came into existence. \u201cThe book is a love letter to the women of Appalachia,\u201d says Winchester. \u201cIt is a testament to the strength and determination of the people who once resided on the land that is now the GSMNP, those whom time has forgotten. The invisible women of Appalachia who toiled just as hard as their male counterparts.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Winchester\u2019s story, Sadie Bird is a widow who, in 1929, supports herself by harvesting medicinal plants and making tonics and salves from them. Her life is upended when a government employee shows up to acquire her land for the planned park.<\/p>\n

The house that Docia Queen Styles lived in is the one that stands today at the Mountain Farm Museum at the Oconaluftee Visitors Center. Winchester says that, as a child, she knew the house had belonged to an ancestor, but didn\u2019t think beyond that fact. \u201cAt the time, I didn\u2019t understand the significance of the house, or how many visitors came to the land, and I didn\u2019t understand how desperately folk wanted to stay on their land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides realizing the heartache Appalachian women historically have known, Winchester hopes readers connect with the setting. \u201cI hope to immerse the reader into the magic of these mountains,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause I do believe the mountains remember us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mountains Remember, September 2026, historical fiction, paperback, $22, by Renea Winchester, and published by Mercer University Press, Macon, GA. Upcoming appearances include City Lights Books, Sylva, on Saturday, September 5, at 3 p.m. and Fryemont Inn, Bryson City, on Saturday, September 26, 4\u20136 p.m. Learn more at MUPress.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For her latest novel, The Mountains Remember, Renea Winchester draws on actual accounts of what private landowners\u2014including her great-great-grandmother, Docia Queen Styles\u2014faced as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) came into existence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":96586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-literature"],"yoast_head":"\nBook Feature: The Mountains Remember - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For her latest novel, The Mountains Remember, Renea Winchester draws on actual accounts of what private landowners\u2014including her great-great-grandmother, Docia Queen Styles\u2014faced as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) came into existence.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-the-mountains-remember\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book Feature: The Mountains Remember - The Laurel of Asheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For her latest novel, The Mountains Remember, Renea Winchester draws on actual accounts of what private landowners\u2014including her great-great-grandmother, Docia Queen Styles\u2014faced as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) came into existence.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/arts\/book-feature-the-mountains-remember\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Laurel of Asheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thelaurelofasheville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-27T10:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Book-Feature-Mountains-RememberCover-copy-e1787078950518.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1068\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"544\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amy Pryor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AshevilleLaurel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AshevilleLaurel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amy Pryor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-the-mountains-remember\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-the-mountains-remember\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amy Pryor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13d76582350fe4093b37d2b69174af00\"},\"headline\":\"Book Feature: The Mountains Remember\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-27T10:00:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-the-mountains-remember\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":304,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-the-mountains-remember\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Book-Feature-Mountains-RememberCover-copy-e1787078950518.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Arts\",\"Literature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-the-mountains-remember\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-the-mountains-remember\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thelaurelofasheville.com\\\/updatestage\\\/arts\\\/book-feature-the-mountains-remember\\\/\",\"name\":\"Book Feature: The Mountains Remember - 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