In the Shadow of the Greenbrier is a multi-generational story of a Jewish family who ended up settling and running a convince store in a small town of West Virginia, White Sulfur Springs. The story follows four characters, each from the next generation, and their their journey to, or back to, White Sulfur Springs. The town is home to the famous Greenbrier hotel, which is a resort known for their famous guests that range from celebrities to presidents. Surrounding the hotel is a family mystery that slowly unfolds throughout the book to uncover secrets hidden for years within the own Zelner family.

This book takes some time to get into, but I did enjoyed the book. It was very interesting reading about the Greenbrier and the struggles of a Jewish family in America during the WWII era. I have never heard of the Greenbrier hotel prior to picking up this book, even though I live in DC. I would definitely be interested in making a trip there now to check out the famous hotel.

Keeping track of the different timelines and character's were easier once I had written them down for reference, but can be hard to keep up with in the beginning of the book. The plot is also fairly slow to begin with, but picks up in the later half of the book. I guessed what the mystery was fairly on so I didn't consider it a page turner to discover the secret's of the Zelner family but I still thought it was a good and interesting read. The characters, the struggles they faced as Jews, their decisions, and how those decisions impacted themselves and their children, and their children's children was interesting and made the book a good read.

Overall, I think I would rate the book a 3.5/4 stars. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A family lives and loves near a famous resort hotel, experiencing joy, heartbreak, prejudice and more.

In the small rural town of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, there exists a famous resort hotel called The Greenbrier. It has been the idyllic retreat for the glamorous and wealthy, hosted presidents and other powerful people, acted as a wartime military hospital and functioned as an internment facility during wartime for the diplomatic staff of enemy nations. It also served a function that remained a secret for decades. Books have been written about this storied location, but in this novel it is but one character among many. It is the story of four generations of a Jewish family who live and work in the town where The Greenbrier is located. The first to arrive in White Sulphur Springs is Sol Zelner who has fled his small Lithuanian town in the early 1900’s to avoid being drafted as cannon fodder for the tsar’s army, leaving behind his mother and sisters and struggling to make a life in America. He lands in Baltimore, lucks into a job as a traveling peddler, learns English and starts to make a living. He dreams of having a wife, a home and children in this new land, and even in the face of prejudice (including being asked over and over again to show people the horns on his head, which surely he must have being Jewish) remains optimistic. Surviving a brutal robbery on the road, he is offered the chance to open a shop in the town of White Sulphur Springs, where a magnificent resort is being built. He seizes the opportunity, works to become a part of the community that has few if any Jewish people, and even wins the hand of the beautiful American-born Pauline. They have sons, including Louis who when he is of marrying age meets and weds Sylvia. Sylvia like Sol before her has fled her home in Europe, but in her case she has left Poland and is fleeing the Nazis. She is from a fairly wealthy family in the city of Łódź; her mother and younger brothers have emigrated to Palestine, while her two older brothers have stayed to fight with their fellow socialists against the Germans. Sylvia and Louis have three children: Doree, a daughter and the eldest, Alan and Pete. Doree considers herself a typical American girl, is a little boy crazy but does well in school and plans to go to college alongside her best friend Patty.. Doree eventually marries and has children, and it is her son Jordan who (working as a journalist for the Washington Post) looks into a tip about what is really located underneath the famous resort which has been a fixture in his family’s history.
The ups and downs, successes and tragedies, loves and losses of this family span the early 1900’s through the 1990’s . I was attracted to this book for a very personal reason….I got married and honeymooned at The Greenbrier, and was curious to see its legends woven into this novel. That said, I enjoyed the novel a great deal on its own merits, and the setting was just a plus. Through the different characters who alternately narrated the chapters, jumping back and forth between time periods, I was able to get to know each throughout their lives. Sol, with his sense of humor and positive nature, was a favorite, while the dissatisfied, querulous Sylvia was not quite likable but, as’ I learned more about her past and her aspirations I was able to be more sympathetic to her difficulties. The nature of secrets, the desire for acceptance, the bigotry that springs from ignorance, and the need to be seen and accepted for who one is at their core are all woven into the stories and lives of the Zelner family and those in their lives, and I found it an engrossing and ultimately satisfying read. I am not going to reveal what secret The Greenbrier hid for so long, but I can tell you that it is in fact true and is a relatively unknown piece of American history, as are all of the other components of the hotel’s history. Readers of Martha Hall Kelly, Kristin Hannah and Nancy Horan should pick up a copy of In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, as should those interested in seeing a sliver of Jewish American life through the last 100 years or so. If you like to learn bits of lesser known American history while you learn about a family’s history, then add this to your TBR pile. Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for allowing me access to an advanced reader’s edition of this novel, which in turn permitted me to revisit virtually a special place in my own history.

Well told story with interesting characters. I enjoyed the well researched history of the Greenbrier. The story was slow in some parts.

Based on a true story, In the Shadow of the Greenbrier has three storylines covering decades of time and the mystery of the Greenbrier. Although it took me awhile to sort the timelines in my head, when I got it, I was turning pages so fast to figure out what happened next. Exciting, mysterious, thrilling and a little scandalous, In the Shadow of the Greenbrier is your next great historical fiction read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

In the Shadow of the Greenbrier follows four generations of the only Jewish family in a small resort to town. The resort touches the lives of every generation of the Zelner family. Sol is an immigrant peddler who settles in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia and opens a store. His daughter-in-law Sylvia feels trapped and longs to reunite with her family relocated to Tel Aviv during World War II. Sylvia's daughter Doree is eager to begin her life outside of home. Doree's son Jordan uncovers a secret that explains a family mystery. In the shadow of the Greenbrier is a novel about secrets - the fact that everyone keeps secrets and how those secrets affect our lives. The final secret, about the resort itself, is a bit anticlimactic. Overall the novel is a compelling story of family, religion, and home, and just how isolating those things can be.

Although it took me a while to get into this book, once I did, I was HOOKED. I had trouble keeping track of the different timelines and storylines at first, but once those were established, I was super curious to see how they each intersected and and to find out what was going on in the Greenbrier. I think this book is also very timely given the wave of antisemitism we're going through: it was heartbreaking to read about the racism Jewish families experienced in the US when they immigrated during WWII, and it's terrible to see that history being repeated. I think this is a great book to provide perspective on those experiences.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a very interesting exploration of the Jewish experience for both immigrant and American born Jews. Despite this examination of what it means to be Jewish as a core of the book, there is also a very interesting plot that involves unwinding 4 generations of family secrets. This book held my interest and moved at a satisfying pace. I would recommend this book for both Jewish and non-Jewish readers.

This was a good book.

From the book blurb:
"A poignant multigenerational Jewish family saga inspired by remarkable, yet little-known, true events that shaped America’s history.

Nestled in the hills of West Virginia lies White Sulphur Springs, home to the Greenbrier Resort. Long a playground for presidents and film stars, the Greenbrier has its own gravitational pull. Over ten decades, four generations of the Zelner family must grapple with their place in its shadow . . . and within their own family."

I enjoyed reading this book. While I enjoyed reading the stories of multiple generations of the Zelner family, there was a lot of story to unpack and at times I wish it could have gone in to more details about individual story lines. By covering multiple generations though, you really got a feel for the different challenges the different generations had, but yet how each generation deals with similar issues, both good and bad.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley and glad I read it.

This is the first I have ever heard about Greenbrier and was immediately drawn to the story and the intertwining of the timelines for the characters in their different generational timelines in the Zelner family's lives. This book was well researched, however it became hard at times to keep the plotlines straight. There were some extraneous side stories that made the book too complex in parts. I would definitely recommend it to those that are interested in historical fiction. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley. This was a really good read.

Wow! All I can say is wow!
One of my favorite authors is Beatriz Williams and it’s because in all of her books she does what Emily Matchar does in this book. She jumps around between 4 different family members and time periods to give us the history of the Greenbrier and of Silvia’s family. Four is a lot but Matchar does is exceptionally. I was hanging on the edge of my seat the whole time. I love that the Greenbrier is a real place with real, similar history to what’s in the book. My dad is from West Virginia and grew up about an hour from the Greenbrier which made this book even more special to stumble upon. I think Matchar could be the next historical fiction giant alongside Kate Quinn, Kristin Hannah and Beatriz Williams! Amazing book. Easy 5-stars!

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Random House for an early copy of In The Shadow of the Greenbrier by Emily Matchar

Author Emily Matchar has managed to create a well-constructed and deeply personal narrative of several generations of a Jewish family living in the shadow of the great Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Beginning with immigrant Sol who makes his way from Lithuania to America rather than be forced into the tsar's army and concluding with his great-grandson and Washington Post journalist Jordan, the story follows the trials, sacrifices and adventures of the Zelner family along with mysterious construction going on at the Resort.

At times completely heart-warming and other times heart-wrenching, Matchar does not let up in bringing the reader to new understandings of what it means to be a family along with the dangers of trying to keep family secrets. The characters are complex; the action leads to a long-hidden government secret.

Anyone who enjoys the duality of strong characters and a very worthy plot will want to read In the Shadow of the Greenbrier.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

The idea of this book was more enjoyable then the actual reading of it turned out to be. It sounded so intriguing and like it was going to be a great mystery, but it fell short for me. I lost interest about half way through and while parts did grab my attention, overall it was just mediocre.

"In the Shadow of the Greenbrier" is definitely a slow moving book. It took the first 150 pages to get a hint that something juicy was happening. Most of the "happening" is in the last 100 pages.
Beautifully written, yet I found the back and forth a bit confusing at times. Creating sections in the book divided by year would have been easier.
I did like how the book shed light on "nothing is, as it appears". Lives can seem spotless in the surface but dirty underneath a layer of fake polish. Never act out of impulse. Think before acting. Think before judging.
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read it as an ARC.

This was so good! I could so picture every part of this, I live in WV and have been to and stayed at the Greenbriar. This was so good I really enjoyed this so much.
I just reviewed In the Shadow of the Greenbrier by Emily Matchar. #IntheShadowoftheGreenbrier #NetGalley
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What a remarkable book. I love historical fiction, so to actually read something based off a true place/location makes reading this book all the more enjoyable for me. This was my first Emily Matchar book and I would definitely be interested to read another one of her books. I felt the descriptive words were just enough and the story was just so intertwined with details to remember it gave you an aha moment when you connected the dots. Naturally, after I finished reading the book, I did my own research to learn about a place I imagined only in my mind and watch it come to life. It was so fascinating to view it from a different perspective.

This was such a good story. I loved the multigenerational aspect of the book where we got to hear from 4 different generations from the same family. Some of their experiences were similar but also very different. The perspective of Sylvia was probably my favorite, her character had so much depth and inner turmoil. Her story really stood out to me. There was also a interesting mystery to this book that had you wanting to turn the page even more to find out what was going on at the Greenbriar Resort. I loved this book and other lovers of historical fiction will as well!

This story takes place in White Sulphur Springs West Virginia. It covers several generations of a jewish family that relocated there from Europe. The Greenbrier Resort is based on an actual resort that has been used for many resources since early 1800's. It was used as a resort for hundreds of foreign diplomats during war time, a 2000 bed hospital during war time, and became a world's great golf destination in last half of the 1900's. It was also a bunker used for emergency location of Congress in case of an attack. This book was historical and a great story of a jewish family along with their trials and tribulations.

Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, In the Shadow of the Greenbrier by Emily Matchar is set across 4 generations. Going back and forth between those generations keeps the reader engaged. Set during WWII, there are secrets, big secrets, that set families against each other, townspeople against each other, and 'foreigners' against locals when the Greenbrier is used to house foreign diplomats. What secrets are revealed in the fourth generation? Secrets that endangered and split families.

A copy was provided for my review, but all opinions are my own.

This book was so well done. I had previously read about The Greenbriar Hotel in The Grand Design by Joy Calloway, which was also a great read. This story had several subplots, but mostly revolved around a Jewish family living in a very rural area, during WWII. The story followed the family for several generations. Interwoven through out was the famous (and real) Greenbriar Resort. Most of the community worked or made their living there, much like the coal mines in the area. There were prejudices, betrayals, affairs, and secrets. It was well written, and I felt like I knew the family and cared about them. Last half was hard to put down, as there was quite the mystery developing throughout. I especially had empathy for Sylvia, who had come from Europe to escape the Nazi regime.
I want to thank Netgalley for the chance to read the ARC. I definitely recommend this book!

My family is from West Virginia. I've known of the Greenbrier for years - even though it's in the southern part of the state and my family is situated in the north. The story of my family back four generations also includes wars, secrets, and getting further from our faith.

In the Shadow of the Greenbrier tells the story of the Zelners who have a very different West Virginia story from mine. The immigrant characters come to America bearing the trauma of war. Those who've been in America for any amount of time, in any of the generations, are dealing with some level of discrimination.

All the characters are navigating the waters of who they are in their family, in their community, in the world. It's a relatable story. There could have been a deeper thread of faith in the story - an older character with a strong attachment to their Jewish roots or one of the younger characters who reconnects with God.

For the most part, the story tells of a people who step further away from their faith into affairs, lies, and secrets. And maybe to some degree they are pushed by the experience of two world wars that left their families scattered around the world. Or maybe they are pulled away from the faith by American culture, as strong in West Virginia as it was in Washington or Baltimore.