Mountains Are Free

by Julia Davis Adams, Theodore Nadejen (Illustrator)

"This treatment of the legend of William Tell endeavors to place it in its historical setting, and to show the difference in ideals and manners between the Swiss and the people against whom they were struggling; that is to say, between the feudal system and the first faint stirrings of democracy."

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Juvenile

246 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1930

About the author

Julia Davis was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia to a prominent family. After her mother Julia McDonald Davis died from childbed fever, young Julia was raised mostly by her grandparents. Her father John W. Davis was a lawyer and partner in the New York-based firm Davis Polk. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain just after World War I and later ran for president. She attended Wellesley College for two years and then transferred to Barnard College, where she graduated in 1922. The following year, she married William McMillan Adams and began writing books for young people.

Adams made her publishing debut with The Swords of the Vikings in 1927. During her career, she produced more than 20 other books, primarily history and fiction, including the Shenandoah volume for the landmark Rivers of America series. She also wrote two volumes of memoirs, Legacy of Love (1961) and The Embassy Girls (1992), and two novels under the pseudonym F. Draco. Two of her children's novels - Vaino: A Boy of New Finland (1929) and Mountains Are Free (1930) - were chosen as Newbery Honor Books.

She worked for a year as a reporter for The Associated Press. After divorcing her first husband, she married again twice, and cared for stepchildren and other children who needed homes. She was an agent for the State Charities Aid Association in 1933-1938, and was active in charitable organizations in New York.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julia Davis Adams, whose Vaino: A Boy of New Finland was a Newbery Honor Book in 1930, was so honored a second time in a row with this 1931 Newbery Honor Book - one of eight titles chosen that year, along with Floating Island , Queer Person , and Spice and the Devil's Cave (amongst others) - which follows the story of a young Swiss boy in the early 14th century, who finds himself caught up in an adventure, first in Austria, and then back home in Switzerland. Afraid that he is a burden to the Tell family, who had taken him in after the death of his grandfather, Bruno decides to become a page to Sir Rupprecht von Lowenhohe, a foreign knight traveling through the Swiss mountains, and returns with him to Austria, to the castle of his liege lord, the Duke of Valberg. Here Bruno has many adventures and misadventures, often finding himself in trouble; and is befriended by Kyo the minstrel, and by the strong-willed but goodhearted Lady Zelina. When Zelina, barely thirteen, is betrothed to the brutal Sir Rupprecht, the three friends flee, making for the freedom of the Swiss mountains. Once there, however, they discover that the freedom of the mountains, and the hereditary rights of the Swiss, under the Holy Roman Emperor, are under threat from two bailiffs, imposed from without by the powerful Austrian Hapsburg monarchy. Bruno's adoptive father, William Tell, is soon in the thick of things, as is Bruno...

It took a lot of effort, and a few false starts to track this old Newbery title down! I had to request it twice - apparently it came in for me around Christmas, and I never picked it up, although I have no memory of getting a notification! - and the copy that did eventually come is falling apart. It was worth it however, as I found Mountains Are Free to be an immensely engaging read! I finished it in two sittings, on the same day, practically gulping it down in a little over two hours! The storyline was involving, the characters appealing, and the history quite interesting! I was familiar with the story of William Tell, of course, and his shooting of the apple off of his son's head (before his killing of the corrupt official, Gessler, who forced him to do such a thing), but Adams gives the folk legend a solid background in her novel, and one gets a sense of the perpetual struggle of the Swiss to maintain their freedoms, in the face of the powerful interests, from the Austrians to the Catholic church, that surrounded them. I find it interesting that both of Adams' Newbery titles feature the struggle of a people for independence, from outside colonialists/would-be colonialists. In any case, this was an engaging work of historical fiction, being both entertaining and informative (it also features lovely artwork by Theodore Nadejen), and is one I would not hesitate to recommend to contemporary readers. Well worth reprinting, I think!

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book. It is historical fiction about Switzerland trying to maintain their freedom from Austria...with William Tell as a secondary character. I ended up enjoying the historical nature but especially appreciated the characters and setting. Switzerland is such a beautiful country, and its beauty is really evoked in this book. I loved Kyo...who at first seems so despicable as he seems to treat serfs and others poorly...but you quickly realize that he is wise to the ways of the world and that he has a good heart, if sometimes he is a bit prickly on the outside. I love that characters from the beginning make a reappearance in the latter half...Rupperecht, the monk, and William Tell. It feels as if the story comes full circle.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

After his father dies, Bruno lives with William Tell and his wife until Knight Rupprecht hires him to be his page. Bruno goes with Rupprecht and Sigismund to the Duke's castle and meets Kyo and Zelina. After displaying his archery skills, the Duke wants Bruno to be one of his archers, and Rupprecht beats Bruno until he is unconscious for falling when he is climbing.

Bruno becomes friends with Zelina and Kyo, and he tries to escape but fails. When Zelina finds out she has to marry Rupprecht, she, Bruno, and Kyo all flee from the Duke's land. They return to Bruno's homeland but hear news of how the new government is abusing Swiss citizens. Some of the men including William Tell decide they have had enough of Austrian rule. Gessler makes Tell shoot an apple off his son's head with an arrow, and Tell ends up shooting Gessler. The Swiss get the Austrians out of the castle and their land. There is peace for a time after the emperor dis, but when Bruno is a man, the Swiss go to war against the Austrians and defeat them. At the end of the story, Bruno and Zelina are in love.

I liked this book. I wasn't familiar with Swiss and Austrian history, so it was interesting to read about that. It was fun that the author interwove William Tell into the story even though he was not the main character, and Bruno's character was likeable.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars. A very good historical novel set in Switzerland in the 14th c.m Told by orphan goatherd, Bruno, who is the ward of the William Tell family, but decides to make his way in he world by becoming the servant of an Austrian knight. Through Bruno's eyes, the book describes life in the "free" cantons vs that in the villages and castles of Hapsburg Austria (and the Holy Roman Empire. On the one hand the Swiss are free farmers and burghers taxed and ruled by Austria, on the other are knights and their servants and serfs (who are wretched indeed). Eventually Bruno Bruno makes his way home, William Tell performs his legendary archery feat, and the Swiss cantons rebel. I read this for my 2018 Reading Challenge and Newbery Challenge (Honor 1931).

[Lynette Caulkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rating this the way young me would have done so, since it's a 1931 honor book. Adult me puts this historical fiction at a 3 star level - a bit trite, but also giving me an introduction to medieval Swiss history. Young me would have eaten this book up, with its tales of knights, freemen, adventure and misadventure, romance, battles, fairytale endings, and an appearance by *the* William Tell as a minor character. I never knew he was Swiss, so that was a revelation I enjoyed. Also, it was refreshing to read an early-20th century children's literature option that wasn't full of racism or patrimonialism.

[Amber Scaife · Rating 3 out of 5]

Follows a young Swiss boy who has grown up in the mountains as he becomes the page to a boorish knight, travels to a castle, meets a lovely young noble girl and her fool/guardian, travels back to the mountains and defies the wicked nobles alongside his adoptive father, William Tell.
A nice-enough story, although a bit slow in parts.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's so interesting to me that there are two Newbery books about William Tell, and yet all I knew of him were the apple on his son's head and the overture. This one is written not from Tell's viewpoint, but from the viewpoint of a Swiss boy who goes to Austria to serve a Duke, then runs away to join the resistance in Switzerland to Austrian rule. Not a bad story, but not always very interesting.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to buy this one. No luck with Interlibrary Loan. I’m going to see if I can give it to Internet Archive to scan.

I loved this one. Medieval stories are a favorite. I lived in Switzerland for a year so I knew the place names. Pace was quick. Lovely artwork.

[Desiree']

1931 Newbery honor book

[Thomas Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a historical fiction involving the life of a boy from Switzerland, more particularly from Uri canton, in the early 1300's. He knew William Tell, and the story of William Tell and the freedom of the cantons of Uri, Schweiz, and Unterwalden from Austrian/Hapsburg oppression.

Part of the goal of this book seems to be to underscore the lifestyles of the nobility, the clergy and the serf within the Holy Roman Empire as well as the almost-freedom felt by those in the above mentioned cantons (kind of like counties). This book also includes a huge variety of well-defined personalities, somewhat encouraging the idea that all kinds of people can be found in all walks of life.

Anyway, it is a well-written book, but I didn't find it all that interesting.

[Scott Williams]

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