Dirt-poor, sensitive as poets, and proud as kings, the Powell family has lived on a Georgia mountaintop for generations. Then, during the 1960's, young Ursula Powell's father convinces the Tiber family, owners of everything in nearby Tiberville, to commission a huge iron sculpture of a bear for the town. Decades later the strange sculpture - rejected by the townspeople and left to rust on the Powell farm - symbolizes a family's failure and thwarted dreams. But, unknown to Ursula, it is now worth such a huge fortune that the artist's embittered son, Quentin Ricconni, is coming to reclaim it ...and to change everything Ursula believes about the past, the choices that break a heart, and the redeeming powers of art and love. Characters as intriguing as the abstract sculpture." -- Atlanta Journal Constitution "I highly recommend On Bear Mountain ...a deeply touching tale." -- Romance Reviews Today "A delight." -- Hollywood Behind The Scenes "Rich, complex." -- The Romance Reader "Beautifully written ...A shimmering web of sorrows and joys." - Booklist "Readers of the novels of Anne Rivers Siddons will welcome into their hearts Deborah Smith." -- Midwest Book Review "A fine and gentle tale" -- Publishers Weekly "Charming and heartwarming" -- Library Journal "Smith's best novel yet." -- Kristin Hannah Reviewer's Choice Nominee, Best Contemporary Novel Romantic Times BookClub 2003 Nominee, The 2002 Townsend Prize for Fiction Reviewer's Choice Nominee, Best Mainstream Romance Romantic Times, 1997