Crestmont is a harmonious story. It opens with an intense and beautiful tale that introduces the town of Eagle's Mere. There is a sense of nature and oneness in the setting, a sense of slowing down, which gives the book a very enticing start. And then the story of Crestmont begins, with its soft, somewhat slow melody.
The main storyline takes off in 1925 when Gracie, an aspiring singer, begins to work at Crestmont Inn. Gracie is an endearing character. Her emotional depth makes the story really come alive, as do the personalities of those she meets on her journey. As Gracie's journey becomes more about what's within than where she's going, there is a spiritual awakening that occurs.
I found this book to be carefully-written, almost too much so in places. The story moved slowly at times, and Weiss seems to spend too much time on little details that added very little to the storyline. But, I'll admit, the cadence of the prose might have been purposeful. To my mind, it demanded more deftness from Weiss, in order to keep my interest, which she did. Few novels can slow me down, and it was just this, the slowness, that, in the end, kept me reading. With everything in life going at hyper-speed at all times, coming across a gentle book like Crestmont is rare, settling even.