On April 2, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany to start our involvement in World War I. Before the end of that month, our government converted the Mountain Park Hotel and its extensive grounds in Hot Springs, North Carolina, into an interment camp for Germans that was maintained throughout the war. The fictional mountain cove that gave this novel its name is between Mars Hill, North Carolina, and Hot Springs. The protagonist of this novel is Laurel Shelton, a young woman who lives in the cove with her brother who has just returned from fighting in the war. Who is the mute man that Laurel Shelton discovers in the woods badly stung by a swarm of yellow jackets? "Rash effortlessly summons the rugged Appalachian landscape as well as the small-mindedness and xenophobia of a country in the grip of patriotic fervor, drawing striking parallels to the heated political rhetoric of today. A powerful novel that skillfully overlays its tragic love story with pointed social commentary."--Booklist (starred review). "Ron Rash is a writer of both the darkly beautiful and the sadly true; his new novel, "The Cove", solidifies his reputation as one of our very finest novelists."--Richard Russo.