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On Bear Mountain
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On Bear Mountain (2009) (edit title/settings)

by Deborah Smith (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Fate will bring two hearts together... Only the most peculiar fate could link the wealthy Ricconni family of New York with the dirt-poor Powells of the Georgia mountains. But a strange iron sculpture of a bear is about to draw Ursula Powell and Quentin Ricconni together. The two have... read more

Summary edit see section history

The story of two people, born and raised in two different places, for about 40 years, with one common interest that brings them together.

Ursula Powell was born on the same day as the abstract sculpture of a bear - the Iron Bear, or Bare Wisdom, and made from scrap metal - came into... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The story of two people, born and raised in two different places, for about 40 years, with one common interest that brings them together.

Ursula Powell was born on the same day as the abstract sculpture of a bear - the Iron Bear, or Bare Wisdom, and made from scrap metal - came into Tiverville, Georgia. This sculpture was not admired by most townspeople but had to be accepted because of the woman who'd commissioned it, Miss Betty Tiber. It was bought for and placed at Mountain State College and she'd paid the artist $5,000 for it. When Miss Betty died her son John (her favorite), who hated the sculpture and was now the owner, wanted to et rid of it. His cousin, Tom Powell (Ursula's father) always lover the Bear and wanted to save it. A bargain between the two men was made: for $40 a month Tom could buy the Bear then could take it to his home. This was a terrible amount of money to Tom, who was as poor as John was rich. It possibly meant medicines for his ailing wife who was pregnant. Tragedy struck when the Bear arrived at Tom's home and nothing could change it; it colored Ursula's life many years afterward. But the boy born on that day, her young brother Arthur, was dearly loved even though he was born mentally deficient.

Meanwhile, Quentin Riconni, son of the artist, was growing up in Brooklyn, New York. With the money from that sculpture, his father, the artist who'd sculpted the Bear had taken a large loft in upstate New York in order to further his art. Quentin and his mother stayed in Brooklyn, in an awful neighborhood, and Richard would visit when he could - a couple of times a month. When he did visit, he always admonished his son about the bad influences in that neighborhood, staying in school and getting good grades so that he could make something of himself when he was older. There was much love between all three in the family at that time. Eventually, though, the money situation was so bad that Quentin took the chance with crime, which he'd resisted all his life; but his mother meant the world to him and it was to protect her. Tragedy struck there, too, and Quentin stopped loving his father; felt that he almost hated him. He was caught stealing a car by a neighbor friend, Alfonse Esposito, who was a policeman. Because of Alfonses' respect for Quentin's mother, a deal was struck with the judge to keep Quentin's name clean - but the judge required that Quentin join the army. That meant that he had to give up the MIT scholarship he'd just won!

The story continued 22 years later. Quentin had served for 16 years in the army, and served well and bravely and was a Captain when he left. He kept his feelings about his father to himself, never shared much with his mother about it. When he was 40, he'd been out of the army seven years and owned a successful architectural salvage company. When his mother began promoting his father's sculptures, she was extremely successful and realized much money. Still, there was a bittersweet relationship between mother and son over Richard, Quentin's father.

Ursula had graduated from Emory University and bought a tiny old bookstore in Atlanta. Working 16 hours a day, 7 days a week to do so. She moonlighted as a night shift manager for a few years at a canning factory to even out the store's losses. Ursula also owned a tiny publishing company, Powell Press. She'd found a man to be intimate with, but would not marry him, not trusting life with any man. Her father, Tom, had made apartments out of a few chicken coops and allowed some of his struggling artist friends to live there, but they often cheated him. There were bad feelings between Ursula and her father; she loved him but couldn't forgive him for the death of her mother when she was a young girl. When he died, she'd never talked to him about her feelings; but he left her the Bear and she was now the caregiver for her mentally deficient brother Arthur, who was now in his 20s. She dearly loved Arthur, as did the tenants of the apartments. And Arthur had an affinity with the Bear - one that would play heavily on everyone's life. Eventually, Ursula had to move to Bear Creek.

When Quentin found evidence of the existence of the Bear sculpture, he took a "business trip", unknown to his mother, to see about it and fell in love - with the town, the scenery, Ursula's friends, her brother Arthur - and Ursula herself. The decision of getting the Bear back to New York, now worth over a million dollars (which could help the Powells so much) was left to Arthur, who had requirements that sent Quentin back to New York - and then almost lost him his life.

Characters edit see section history

  • Quentin Riconni: Grew up poor in Brooklyn, the son of the sculptor of the Bear. Except for a few times a month, he was separated from his father. There was a love/hate relationship there. Quentin became an architectural engineer after 16 years in the army.
  • Ursula Powell: Named for the Bear sculpture, it is in her "voice" that this story is told. She had curly auburn hair and blue eyes, was a strong woman.
  • Betty Tiber: Tiberville matriarch, elderly, eccentric; tall, stocky with red hair. Polio had played a significant part in her life.
  • John Tiber: A rich man; Rotarian president when the Bear was brought to town; a cousin to Tom Powell. John hated the sculpture but had to put up with it until Betty died.
  • Luzanne: Miss Betty's daughter, Mr. John's eldest sister; 80 yrs. old, she lived in Miss Betty's old home.
  • Richard Riconni: Sculptor of the Bear. Sometimes worked in a garage, on cars. All his life he spent making metal sculptures, trying to "make his mark in the world", to no avail.
  • Angele Riconni (nee Dolinski): Quentin's mother, a tender woman; college-educated, lame from a young age. She grew up with no parents in her aunt's fussy home; desperately loved Richard, She was a former librarian.
  • Erim Powell: Colorful founder of Bear Creek. Married Annie Walker who was 3/4 Irish and 1/4 Cherokee.
  • Bethina Grace Powell Tiber: Mother of Betty, daughter of Erim and Annie. At age 41, she left for South America with a black man, the grandson of Daniel Washington.
  • Annie Powell: Married to Erim. At age 70 she disappeared and was never found again. Called by her ancestors Grannie Annie. Superstitions about her arose in the town.
  • Tom Powell: Father of Ursula, married to Victoria. Loved the Bear sculpture right from the start. Between him and his wife there was always a special love.
  • Janine Tiber: A rival of Ursula's from childhood. John Tiber's spoiled daughter.
  • Daniel Washington: A slave belonging to the Tiber family. He was skilled as a blacksmith and his children became educated at Mountain State College.
  • Oscar Powell: Ursula's grandfather. A heart-shaped piece that had been the carburetor in his 1922 Ford tractor was suspended inside the Bear.
  • Mrs. Silberstein: A Jewish lady in Brooklyn who loved the Riconni family, felt protective of them.
  • Father Aleksandr: A priest at St. Vincent's school, which Quentin attended.
  • Mr. Gutzman: Owner of two garages, one that was legitimate, the second was not.
  • Johnny Siccone: Quentin's friend who helped Quentin get into a life of crime.
  • Alfonse Esposito: A dectective; a neighbor of Quentin's; father of Carla.
  • Carla Esposito: In love with Qentin since they were young. Blatantly sexual and provocative.
  • Joey Araiza: An art student who used space at the loft where Richard lived and worked.
  • Arthur Powell: The last baby born to Victoria Powell; Ursula's young brother. Due to the circumstances of the birth, he was born mentally deficient.
  • Harriet Davies: A small, round woman who ran the tea room next door to Ursula's bookstore.
  • Dr. Jonah Washington: Fred's brother, who'd been able to attend college and then taught at Harvard until he retired. Then he moved back to Bear Creek.
  • Popeye: Master Sergeant Henry Bodine Johnson, a retired army man. A friend of Quentin's and a fellow worker who lived in Quentin's building.
  • Hammer: Quentin's faithful dog for many years.
  • Tom Powell's tenants: Oswald T. Waldon, a self-proclaimed folk painter, about 60, married to Juanita, who was about 30. Bartow and Fannie Ledbetter, past 70, lived hand-to-mouth, made ceramics. Liza Deerwoman, middle-aged, made glass objects like vases, perfume bottles, etc. and became very important to Arthur and Ursula.
  • Gregory: The man in Ursula's adult life; a researcher, he owned her apartment. She felt he was a pleasant and dependable man.
  • Mrs. Dixon: The silver-haired deputy at the Tiberville jail.
  • Tricky Stuart: A maid at Tiber Crest; she'd known Ursula since childhood, shared her "B-list" standing with Janine Tiber.
  • Esme Tiber: A 19-year-old niece of John Tiber's. She had mental problems and lived at Tiber Crest.
  • Joe Bill Walker: A gangster, he came to collect on a loan made by Ursula's deceased father. He drove a Corvette, wore lots of gold jewelry.
  • Father Roy: A short, graying priest at Tiber's catholic church. Quentin went to confession to Fr. Roy at times.
Show all 33 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • If you only love someone after they’ve changed to suit your tastes, then what did you love about them to begin with?”
    Highlighted by 62 Kindle customers
  • Who told you you’d go through life with no unanswered questions and no regrets? Half the answer is learning to live with the questions.
    Highlighted by 50 Kindle customers
  • “It means be careful what you love. And who. Every person and thing you care about is a weight you agree to carry. You can’t put it down once you pick it up.”
    Highlighted by 47 Kindle customers
  • Just because someone leaves or disappoints you doesn’t mean the love is gone. Sometimes that’s when it’s the strongest. When you feel it so much it hurts.”
    Highlighted by 40 Kindle customers
  • Sometimes you’ve got to break the mold that’s been made for you, or die trying.
    Highlighted by 34 Kindle customers
  • Some choices are made for us before we’re born. Some traditions are set in hard patterns we’re expected to follow, their seams welded, their strengths and weaknesses hammered into place. We don’t cast our own shadows until we know who we love and where we belong. Only then do we understand.
    Highlighted by 34 Kindle customers
  • It’s a blessing to know who you love, and where you belong, and what you’re willing to die for. Wonderful pieces can be salvaged from damaged hopes, and new foundations can be created from even the saddest memories.
    Highlighted by 34 Kindle customers
  • “Beware the golden chains that bind. Your spirit moves freely in righteous solitude, alone.
    Highlighted by 29 Kindle customers
  • A person had to be raised in hopeless submission to believe that martyrdom was a substitute for justice. Rationalized acceptance of oppression was the meek way out. I wasn’t a pacifist.
    Highlighted by 20 Kindle customers
  • “Silence is the worst enemy of hope. I can’t remember who said that. Plato, maybe, or one of the saints. But it’s true.”
    Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers
Show all 11 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

Georgia and Brooklyn, New York
  • Tiberville, Georgia: A town founded in 1850; most business revolved around Tiber's chicken processing plant, owned by the Tiber family. Also, most of the townspeople earned their living through that industry. The Powell family was the rival family, but poor. Their land abutted that of Tiber Crest, the estate of John Tiber. Due to marriages Tom Powell and John Tiber were cousins.
  • Riconni apartment in Brooklyn: Small, with cheap viny furniture, bookcases overflowing with encyclopedia, art books and novels. A dozen metal sculptures were here and there, and a plaster copy of Picasso's Head of a Woman was on a window sill.
  • Powell homestead: In Bear Creek, in Tiberville, Georgia. One hundred acres abutting that of the Tibers, most acres were rocky, steep and isolated; only one lot was level. Flowers bloomed wherever sun could reach. The house was white-washed, secluded, with a 100-yr- old chimney. The first man to own it was Erim Powell, a former teacher, who won it in a card game.
  • Tiber Crest: A large white-columned house a few miles west of town, owned by John Tiber and his wife now. It was built upon land gifted to them upon their marriage, jokingly called Rooster Hill. It was among acres of old apple orchards, black beef cattle and stately marble hens and roosters, the yard art of the area.
  • Quentin's office in New York: A corner area in a large building which was an old textile mill he'd bought and now used for his business. The lower floors were rented out as apartments, the entire top floor he kept for both his living quarters and his business. There was a row of file cabinets, office equipment, a battered desk with a state-of-the-art computer on it. Heavily-carved Moroccan doors led to his living quarters, next door. Many handsome salvage items outfitted his apartment: an 18th century plaster molding on the wall above his bed; a beautiful mahogany archway framed a kitchen window. There was a dining table made of the worn base of a stone fountain covered with a piece of thick plate glass.
  • Angele's brownstone house: There was only one place described: in the parlor, there was a small lace-draped table for tea. China teapots, gifts from Alfonse, and a silver strainer; a gaudy yellow spoonrest Angele's husband had won at a Coney Island game. She also had delicate china cups.

First Sentence edit see section history

When I was a child it seemed to me that our secluded farm lay at the end of a path to a magic land where only Powells and legends could survive.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Prologue
Part I - chapters 1 to 6
Part II - chapters 7 to 16
Part III - chapters 17 to 25
Reader's guide questions

Glossary edit see section history

  • scuppernong jelly: Scuppernong is a variety of the mascadine grape native to the basin of the Scuppernong River in North Carolina

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Bear sculpture: This sculpture, made from metal scraps by a man who was constantly looking for a way to make his life have meaning, was a symbol to most of the characters in this book. The townspeople disliked it, made fun of it; John Tiber, the rich leader of men in the town hated it; Richard Riconni, the artist, and Tom Powell, loved it; Arthur Powell, slightly autistic and mentally slow, felt it could talk to him.Called several names in the book: Iron Bear, Bare Wisdom,

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Deborah Smith (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Country: United States
Publication Date: Nov 1, 2009
ISBN: 0982175663
Page Count: 280

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3569.M5177 O5 2001
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Adult themes

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