Historical Q&A: Sarah Loudin Thomas (These Blue Mountains)
Sarah Loudin Thomas is the director of Jan Karon’s Mitford Museum in Hudson, NC. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Coastal Carolina University and is the author of the acclaimed novels The Right Kind of Fool – winner of the 2021 Selah Book of the Year – and Miracle in a Dry Season – winner of the 2015 Inspy Award. Sarah has also been a finalist for the Christy Award, ACFW Carol Award and the Christian Book of the Year Award. She and her husband live in western North Carolina.
Her historical fiction is often set in West Virginia and celebrates the people, the land, and the heritage of Appalachia. This novel is set a little lower in the mountains, in North Carolina.
FF: What inspired the story in your book?
While researching the flood of 1916 in western North Carolina for another novel – These Tangled Threads – I came across information about a German POW camp in Hot Springs, NC. German sailors who were in US waters when war was declared were sent to North Carolina for the duration of the war. While there, they built an amazing Bavarian village almost entirely from flood debris. While digging into the history of that camp, I discovered a story about a German woman whose brother was taken prisoner and then disappeared and was presumed dead. Fifteen years later she saw his name on a cross in a photograph of a monument to German sailors who died at the camp in Hot Springs. Finally, she learned what happened to her brother.
That was too astonishing a story to pass up! So, I made the brother a fiancé and sent my fictional Hedda Schlagel to America in the 1930s to try and recover the body of her long-lost love. The catch is that when they disinter Fritz’s casket . . . he’s not in it. There’s a woman’s remains there instead. Now Hedda has TWO mysteries to solve
FF: What can you tell us about the main characters in your book?
Hedda Schlagel is a pianist living in Germany who’s been mourning her lost fiancé, Fritz, for fifteen years. She’s become almost reclusive and has cut herself off from life. When she thinks she’s finally found out what happened to him, it starts a cascade of events that force her to finally move forward with her life.
Garland Jones was a guard at the POW camp where Fritz was held and is now a sheriff’s deputy in Madison County, NC. While he appears to have moved on, the night Fritz died has long haunted him. When he has an opportunity to help Hedda find closure and learn what really happened to Fritz, he steps up albeit a bit reluctantly.
Fritz Meyer, the lost fiancé, also plays a significant role in the story. He’s a brawny German sailor with a passion for art and a naturally cheerful disposition. You’ll get to me him in flashbacks.
FF: Which character surprised you the most?
Fritz. Hands down. Read the story and you’ll see why.
FF: Why do you think storytelling is such a powerful way to share truth?
“Tell me a story,” are some of the most compelling words in any language. As children we crave stories that surprise and delight us as well as stories that inspire us and spur us on. When we share stories, we discover the things that we have in common. Jesus knew the power of a good story and used it often!
FF: What can you tell us about your next book?
My next book is also inspired by the WNC flood of 1916. Many people are familiar with Lake Toxaway, a popular resort area in the mountains. What most don’t know is that the lake sat empty for 40 years after the dam gave way following that flood. Lucy Camp Armstrong Moltz wanted to live on the lake so badly she camped on its shore for a summer to persuade her husband to build her a house there. Then, soon after the house was completed, the lake washed down the mountain. And yet, Lucy stayed and made a huge difference in many lives. I invented a character loosely based on Lucy who takes a young couple who’ve lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929 under her wing. There’s lost treasure, late-in-life romance, and underhanded dealings that land one character in prison. Coming in 2027!
FF: What kind of research did you do for this book?
I always do lots of online research looking at maps, historical accounts, and just general information. A key book I used for this novel was Jaqueline Burgin Painter’s now out-of-print, The German Invasion of Western North Carolina. That book is where I found the story about a German woman finding her long-lost brother. It also includes amazing photographs of the Bavarian village. Other books that helped immensely were Black Mountain by Martin Duberman and Black Mountain College by Anne Chesky Smith and Heather South.
FF: What do you want readers to take away after reading your book?
I hope this book might encourage readers to take a look at their preconceived notions about other people. I loved that while the residents of Hot Springs were initially nervous about the German sailors coming to their town, they ultimately found much to like about having them there and some even formed strong friendships. Whether people are another nationality, another faith, or simply speak with an unfamiliar accent, I think we’d do well to really get to know others before making our minds up about them.
FF: What are the biggest challenges for you as an author writing historical fiction?
Time! As with many authors, I work a “day job” that means I do my writing in the evenings and on weekends. Few things feel quite so decadent as a day when all I have on my calendar is writing time. My other challenge is getting lost in research. I enjoy digging into history and the events surrounding my stories. It’s easy to find myself so caught up in research that I’m not doing as much writing as I should.
FF: What authors or books have inspired you as an author?
Wendell Berry will forever by my favorite author. His fiction, poetry, and essays never fail to inspire me. Others include A.W. Tozer, C.S. Lewis, Francine Rivers (her Mark of the Lion series was a turning point for me), and Lisa Wingate.
FF: How has your faith impacted the way you tell stories?
I think the better question is, how has it not? I long to have such a deeply rooted faith that it naturally bubbles over into my stories. When my writing is going well, I don’t have to think about how I’m going to express my faith through story. I just do. Some of my favorite moments have been when readers shared how a story impacted their faith in ways I didn’t even intend. When I get out of the way, the Holy Spirit makes me look much cleverer than I actually am.
~~~
These Blue Mountains
Sarah Loudin Thomas
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Genre: Historical
Release July 15, 2025
Available Formats: Paperback, Hardcover, Audiobook, eBook
ASIN: 0764242024
ISBN-13: 978-0764242021
Book Summary:
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel’s world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda is stunned to see Fritz’s name in a photograph of an American memorial for German seamen who died near Asheville, North Carolina. Determined to reclaim his body and bring closure to his ailing mother, Hedda travels to the US. Her quest takes a shocking turn when, rather than Fritz’s body, his casket contains the remains of a woman who died under mysterious circumstances.
Local deputy Garland Jones thought he’d left that dark chapter behind when he helped bury Fritz Meyer’s coffin. The unexpected arrival of Hedda, a long-suffering yet captivating woman, forces him to confront how much of the truth he really knows. As they work together to uncover the identity of the woman in the casket and to unravel Fritz’s fate, Hedda and Garland grow closer. But with Hedda in the US on borrowed time while Hitler rises to power in Germany, she fears she’ll be forced to return home before she can put the ghosts of her past to rest.
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