Talkshow Thursday: Kathleen Bailey and a Hilltop Reunion

Talkshow Thursday: 

Kathleen Bailey and a Hilltop Reunion

For most of the year, Route 112 is the farm-to-market connection between Lincoln and Conway, New Hampshire. In the autumn it’s transformed, with its mountain vistas striped in red, orange and gold. The locals gladly share their road with “leaf peepers,” the carloads and vanloads and busloads of tourists come to see the miracle known as Fall Foliage. The 32-mile stretch offers jaw-dropping vistas of trees in their autumn glory. The road cuts through the White Mountain National Forest. But it wasn’t always so.

Though the Native Americans traversed the mountains with their own pathways, the connection that became the Kanc didn’t exist before 1959. Its life in the modern era began as two small-town roads, one in Lincoln, NH and the other in Passaconaway, NH (later to become simply “Conway”). In 1937 the two roads were extended and connected, though they weren’t much used except by the locals. That all changed in 1959, when the road was renamed the Kancamagus Highway and opened for thru traffic. It gained immediate popularity as a tourist destination. The dirt road with its hairpin curves wasn’t good for heavier traffic, and it was paved in 1964. It was closed in winter until snow removal was instituted in 1969.

“The Kanc” now receives 750,00 visitors a year. They come for the scenic vistas, especially in fall: the

Hancock Overlook, the Sugar Hill overlook, and others. Buses bring frail seniors and people from across the ocean. The more active can park, picnic and hike on one of the hiking trails. The Kancamagus Pass, the highest point of elevation on the road, is a breathtaking 2,855 feet. And don’t be surprised if you see some wildlife.

The Kancamagus Highway is the gateway to the White Mountains region and the beating heart of my Hilltop books. It’s a catalyst for my Hilltop characters. Jane and Noah have their first serious conversation on one of its rocky outcrops. Paul proposes to his first wife at a scenic overlook on the Kanc. Paul’s first wife, Sarah, dies in a car crash on one of its hairpin curves. And Paul recommits his life to God on its slopes, on a frigid December afternoon.

For my locals, the Kanc is part of their lives. It’s where they do school botany projects, practice photography, and teach their children about nature. It’s the reason Hilltop has never built more than one small playground. They have the Kanc. Its majestic vistas bring them face-to-face with God.

I’m a firm believer in setting serving as its own character – the “red earth of Tara,” the Oregon Trail, New York City. Setting shapes character, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire shape mine. In the shadow of the mountains, they can’t run away from God – or themselves. The Kanc will figure in the third Hilltop book, “Hilltop Wedding,” for at least one of my characters.

And the locals will continue to brake for tourists – and moose.

About Hilltop Reunion

Jillian Despres left Hilltop, and Paul McKee’s love, to follow a dream that had no foundation. Can an

old love become new again, and can it happen in time for Christmas?

Jillian Despres never wanted to come back to Hilltop, New Hampshire, at the best of times. She’s put every mile she can between the ragged girl receiving the town’s charity and the polished Boston television anchor she’s become. But when the town authorities call her grandfather on his hoarding, Jill has no choice. She lands in Hilltop in time for the renowned Hilltop Christmas Festival, and in the arms of a man she knew was too good for her.

Police Chief Paul McKee has more reason than most to distrust Jillian, and to wish she’d stayed in Boston. But his vow to preserve and protect his community gives him no wiggle room. Whatever his personal feelings, he must champion the woman’s return to Hilltop, at least until she has her grandfather settled and his house put to rights.

When the ugly past threatens to invade this year’s festival, can Paul and Jill depend on the risen Lord to make things right?

Series notes: “Hilltop Reunion” is the sequel to “Hilltop Christmas,” published in 2023. The books take place in tiny Hilltop, New Hampshire, around a three-day Christmas festival meant to emphasize the birth of Christ. Miracles happen at “Festival” – marriages healed, estranged families reunited, faith born or strengthened. Welcome to Hilltop, the Town That Heals.

About Kathleen Bailey

Kathleen Bailey is a journalist and novelist with 40 years’ experience in the nonfiction, newspaper and inspirational fields. Born in 1951, she was a child in the 50s, a teen in the 60s, a young adult in the 70s and a young mom in the 80s. It’s been a turbulent, colorful time to grow up, and she’s enjoyed every minute of it and written about most of it. She publishes historical Western fiction with Pelican/White Rose Publishing and contemporary Christmas stories with Elk Lake Publishing. She’s also the co-author of four nonfiction local history books with Arcadia Publishing. Visit her at https://kathleendbailey.weebly.com/

Photo Credits: All photos property of Kathleen D. Bailey