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You will often find Martha in the small town where she lives, down in the flatlands of North Carolina. But, for sure, her heart is up on the rolling ridges of the Roan.
Her family were hard working souls that lived by the good Book and sometimes life was pretty hard. But through deep faith, and God's unfailing 'Love and Mercy', they managed to make it through the trying times.
As she sought out her ancestors, she found that she connected and somehow understood the heartaches and struggles that they endured living in the harsh landscape of the mountains.
Encouraged by her father, to "get all the stories down on paper", she began to write and the stories began to take on a life of their own.
If you happen to run into her and see a faraway look in her eyes, remember that her head is often back 'up in the clouds'. She has travelled back, once again, to the Old Cloudland Hotel that stood proud up on Roan Mountain. She has returned back to a time where the beautiful strains of music, from a long gone era, sometimes waft mysteriously down from the misty high ridges.
The Roan never forgets her own.
Reviewed by Gracie Bradford for Readers' Favorite
In Love and Mercy: Up On Roan Mountain by Martha Arrowood Pelc, Ollie, the first character introduced, faces more in her short life than most adults face in a lifetime. There is a mix of love and major tragedy in each family that’s compelling and makes the reader want to know what will happen next. Jane is a strong-willed woman determined to return to her family homestead, only to find that the 100-year-old house is crumbling, requiring major renovation. While making the structural changes, she has to distinguish between what appears to be a dream, or reality versus the presence of ghosts from past relatives whom she encounters in various locations of the house and at different times of the day.
The author takes the reader through several generations of marriages, childbearing, and deaths of younger family members. A common thread between most of the generations is that the male figure is based on a strong religious foundation. The book switches from the present to the distant past, reconciling how events that occur on the mountain impact on Jane’s current day personality and struggle with relationships. The most profound storytelling is between David and Nancy, although Isabelle plays a pivotal role in plot development. There is a quote at the beginning of each chapter. The quote at the beginning of chapter one will probably resonate with most readers. The book has twists and turns that will keep the reader entertained throughout.
