Rating: 
Summary: A Work of Genius
Review: On Bear Mountain was one the best novels, I've read in long time. Nobody does it quite like Deborah Smith. The lives of Ursula Powell and Quentin Riconni are so different and yet so similar. Both were raised in poverty with loving families (one NY, the other in the Georgia mountains), both have been hurt by love and both have decided they would never allow another that power (love) to hurt them again. The one thing that they each have in common and that brings them together is a sculpture of a bear which was created by Quentin's deceased father. Once Ursula and Quentin meet, although there is major resistance on both sides they both discover that yes they can love and love they do. All the characters are so genuine and refreshing you find yourself feeling as though you are a part of the story. Take a chance and get to know the writings of Deborah Smith, she definitely worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Great Read from Deborah Smith
Review: Readers who have never experienced one of Deborah Smith's novels will find On Bear Mountain an enjoyable trip into the myth, magic, lore, love, and loss of the Georgia mountains she obviously knows so well. Beyond the story of two lovers who struggle to imagine a future together, the book examines the ties that make a family, the iron chains of assumptions we hamper ourselves with, and the enriching importance of great art in everyday life. It is a wonderful book.Those who have read other Smith novels, particularly from Blue Willow forward, will find imagery that is familiar here, including the transforming tornado, the photograph that links protagonists from childhood, and the sturdy chestnut beams of family tradition, as well as cigars and chop shops. I wished more than once that Smith would stretch her remarkable storytelling talent just a little further to find new images and symbols to lead us into her deep and delightful world. I recommend this book and look forward to her next one.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: This book is great, it's a wonderful story! I recommend this story to anyone. It's a story about two people destined to meet and about the power of fate to change peoples lives forever.
Rating: 
Summary: She has potential!
Review: This book was enjoyable. It has redeeming value, insight and quirky and believable characters. There is great wisdom -- and humor -- within its pages. But, the author needs to hone her craft. With some simple editing, continuity and polish, she could join the likes of Lee Smith, or the wordsmith herself, Kaye Gibbons. But she is a romance novelist that hasn't quite shaken off the gimmicks. The storytelling at times gets in way of the story. She is at the level of Rosamunde Pilcher -- pre-The Shell Seekers. As Ms. Pilcher -- her first works show potential! The story is told in two voices, Ursula and Richard. They are children of two distinct locales: Ursula grew up poor in the small chicken-producing hamlet of Tiberville, Georgia -- Piggly Wiggly, college politics, better off cousins, local color, a visit to jail for upsetting status quo. Richard grew up in an old neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York -- Catholic school, tenement apartment, mother with ambitions for greatness for both her son and her husband.... What is amazing is both places and the author's descriptions of them, the characters and their family stories ring true. But there is a problem with basic storytelling techniques. Half-way through the book.... midst trying to rekindle the flame, Richard's old girlfriend finds "pictures of me" in his bedroom dresser.... I literally stopped mid-paragraph and wondered "who is 'me?'" Why would pictures of Richard bother her? Isn't the action in New York at this moment? Doesn't Richard tell the New York parts? No! "Me" was Ursula -- but wait -- how did she get there? Other than her likeness in the incriminating photographs --- she was off down in Georgia, pining, wasn't she? I had to stop this diatribe in my mind. The author had changed storytelling techniques mid-story -- she had changed the "voice" telling Richard's part of the story. This disconcertingly continues. What I call "personal pronoun confusion" peppers the last half of the book. The first chapter of On Bear Mountain is a gimmick. You find out what is going to happen at the end. SKIP IT. Literally: do not read the first chapter. Ironically, the gimmick kept me from getting involved emotionally with the book -- if you know it is going to burn, do you put your hand in the fire? And even more ironically, it is a great book to get emotionally involved with! Richard and Ursula find compatriot chords within each other, grow and learn together because of it. Theirs was a powerful story -- it deserves to be told honestly. Straightforwardly. Deborah's writing is mature enough to keep us turning those pages to the end! The characters are great. The story is lively and at times very, very funny. It is very, very real. And is very, very distinctive -- how many writers you know invent a porn artist come children's book illustrator, a love story for the retired, a love story for the autistic and a bear tale all rolled into one? Not to mention the great, hilarious scene starring a rack of beef jerky in the Piggly Wiggly? Keep writing Deborah. You are good, creative and inventive. Your imagery and wisdom shine through. But just pour out your heart!!! You have a great one!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Story
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Trees and Bears and Wonder and Magic
Review: When I finished ON BEAR MOUNTAIN, I was stunned - awestruck. Deborah Smith is a writer that humbles you with the magic of her words and the feeling they convey. The reviews seem to bear me out (forgive the pun?) and I am not even certain I can DO a review powerful enough to convey my feelings. This is one of those thrilling books that you reluctantly finish, set aside, breathe deeply and don't rush to pick out what is next. Full of trees and bears and wonder and magic.
| 
