Customer Reviews

In This Valley I Grew: Life on Blacklog and Happy Hollow

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In This Valley I Grew, by Mary Ellen Goble Preece

Mary Ellen Goble Preece's narrative, In This Valley I Grew, welcomes the reader with homespun stories about Appalachian living. The author recalls people, events, and circumstances that on the surface seem primitive and harsh. Her unpretentious style warms the heart as she presents an era where jobs were scarce and wages were low; where people lived from the land; and where application of the Christian ethic of 'loving thy neighbor as thyself' (Leviticus 19:18 ) , often made the difference between surviving or starving.

The reader cannot help but draw comparisons between subsistence living and the fast-paced, but often uncaring lifestyle, that pervades much of America today. Mrs. Preece's book proves that love of self, of family, of friends, of neighbors, is not borne from material wealth, but from faith-based love--given without limitations, conditions, or attached strings.

Mrs. Preece's book invites you to 'set down' in the rocking chair on her front porch where you'll smell the fresh-baked biscuits, wave to a friendly neighbor, and listen to the distant strains of a hammer dulcimer or banjo. Soon she'll join you and begin her recollections. Portions of In This Valley I Grew are suitable for a Smithsonian Museum documentary on twentieth century Appalachian living and culture.

Submitted by: David S. Rosenberg, author

Review: In This Valley I Grew
Author: Mary Ellen Goble Preece
ISBN: 1-4137-9399-1
In her superb memoir Mrs. Preece takes you on a heart to heart journey into Appalachia. By Appalachia, I mean her people of course, the hearty souls whose courage, God-fearing belief system and gritty determination assured survival in an area of America where people had to be self-sufficient, able and genius resourceful. "In This Valley I Grew" is a book about foundations. It is about mountain people. It holds no trickery for the reader, no false starts and no phoniness. It is honest, real and Mrs. Preece reveals her story--the story of Martin County--as if she's talking to you. Her style is a warm, glowing talk--she tells you about people, what they willingly and happily endured and the hope their deep faith provided without prejudice. You want to listen.
And her conversation with you far more than holds your interest. You want to be there. You want to go back in time and be there too--maybe to help some of the folks a little who desperately needed help. But in Martin County everyone did help those who had less. Those who had more in those days did not have much. Some passages are difficult to get through smoothly because of the continuous pressure on your eyes to tear up before you know what is happening. Nothing can stop something that natural from the combination of your physical and emotional self--and owners of this book know well. Tears interfere with the act of reading for a while.
The author caused me to remember things about the fifties and childhood long ago put aside--pleasant things, from the games children (we) played to the snacks we enjoyed. It is the story of America in perhaps her purest form told in a special brand of language. Words are used that came out of the author's world; they provide color and depth, meaning and truisms. Truths that are still the same today. I am in awe and profound respect for these folks--for this book. My writing seems cheap now and irrelevant. It is evident Mrs. Preece didn't write it for that purpose but the book had that affect.
She remembers preachers, neighbors, family members, teachers--many people of the county; her ability to recall details must be at the genius level. There are elements about life in the fifties and through the seventies that are forgotten by most people but Mrs. Preece brought them back somehow. It does not matter if you don't know her--when you read "In This Valley I grew," you will come to know a dear heart, a true friend who loves the Lord and one who thankfully has shared a wonderful American story with you. I highly recommend Mrs. Preece as an author to acquire as soon as you can. "In This Valley I grew" is a must for your library. It is an excellent chronicle of this area in Appalachia with the true story of her people within its pages.

Andrew O. Huddleston

If you never knew how people once lived, and some who still do, in the hollows of America's Appalachia, you now have an opportunity learn first hand. Mary Preece's `In This Valley I Grew' is an inside look at how people of Appalachia lived, worked, played, raised their families, and loved. Her description of Happy Hollow and its people and how they lived can only warm the the reader's heart. Born to poverty but raised in love, the people of Happy Hollow make their way through a life that was filled with hard times by taking advantage of what little they had. This book is filled with children's games that most people have forgotten or never even heard of, and wonderful examples of adults who spent their life in trying times forging unknown but hopeful futures for their children. When I closed the last page of this book, I couldn't help but wish that Happy Hollow had been one of my life's experiences. Go to Mary's little hollow; you will be glad you did.

This book earns a five star rating if for nothing else but for its research value. It is a valuable source of information for anyone interested in the lifestyle of the Appalachian culture.

Mary Ellen Goble Preece has brought to life a book of the true Appalachian lifestyles during her childhood days.To bring to life a childhood history of events and characteristics of those whom you grew up with takes not only wit, but also a love of life.This love is remembered as it impacted her life so much that she was able to tell the whole world, through a book.

To actually put one's self in her shoes, as we read of her experiences, has the ability to bring into reflection the earlier childhood times in our own lives. The things she describes, events and household upbringings, cannot help being imagined into our minds and compared to the current evolved society. What we feel is hard now was just child's play to the early lifestyles of Mrs. Preece. Yet we live in a very cultured American way.

Kentucky was a hard lifestyle and many of us can count our blessings we did not live there in the early 1900's. But for those who did, there is a lifelong desire to return. Only to get a glimpse of what Mrs. Preece holds in her heart's memories. A time which history has molded into today's lifestyles. Real people with real homespun rationalities to the way life was, is, and could be.

Thank you, Mary, for a great read.
Daryl Worcester

The Chapters of Life # 1-4137-3414-6
Concepts of Life # 1-4137-5993-9
The Story of the Famous Traves Travlslot # 1-4241-2417-4

A great book for me as my family comes from martin county. I wish to contact the author because i'm sure she knows my family back in martin county. A great read if you like that part of the country.

What a treasure of a book and how fortunate that it has been published! Mary Ellen has been blessed with vivid memories, which help make readers feel like they are with her as she tells the story of her early life. I grew up in the city and moved to the country as an adult, but I can relate to so much in Mary Ellen's book.

One of my favorite phrases in her book is:

"Though we didn't realize then just how much we loved them, we certainly know now, by how much we miss them." How true that is for many. How much we wish to have loved ones with us to tell us their feelings and speak with once more. The pictures of her family at the end of each chapter add much to the story.

She talks about being the youngest and I can relate this to my own daughter who was at home alone after her brothers and sisters had left and felt she missed much of the family happenings. I hope that my daughters will share the love Mary Ellen and her sisters do. She admits to the disagreements sisters are bound to have, but also the love that is underneath.

Another quote is "Many of us grew up with all sorts of guilty feelings that were totally unnecessary, carrying baggage around with us as if we were in control whatsoever as children in how we were being raised, and not feeling like we were as good as the person who had wealth or education." Mary has much wealth and wisdom. She does not need to apologize for lack of either.

We live in such a vast country with so many different ways of life, but so many of the same dreams, wishes, and feelings are shared throughout. Many readers will be able to relate to the visits to aunts and uncles, walking wherever they went, the day-to-day work that must be accomplished in a family and home, and finding joy and accomplishment in what others may look at as the small things in life. How often we remember the small kindnesses of others, the purchases of penny candy and the songs and hymns sung.

Having a view for even a short time of someone else's life enriches our own.

This book needs to be in the archives of the historical society from Mary Ellen's hometown, county and state. It is truly a beautiful book. How valuable this book will be for years to come for family and others.

IN THIS VALLEY I GREW
Life on Backlog and Happy Hollow

by Mary Ellen Goble Preece

This is a delightful account of an Appalachian family as recalled by the author, Mary Ellen Goble Preece. Set predominately in the fifties she tells of a simple but proud lifestyle. One that endures hard times and in spite of the harsh realities of life, survives by shear determination, hard work and the grace of God. It is sprinkled with good, down home philosophies, stories of heartache, love, and laughter. If you have ever enjoyed such treats as homemade cornbread and fresh churned buttermilk, this will bring back pleasant memories of yesteryear. If you are a child of the current modern society, you will learn just how blessed you are to enjoy today's modern conveniences. You will learn about making everything from scratch. How to preserve enough food for your family and some extra for a neighbor in need. Making "sugar sweetened French Toast" and "Black Walnut Fudge"; About bitter cold winters with only minimal sustenance and wonderful summers spent roaming the hollow with relatives and friends. Most of all you will have the unique privilege of glimpsing into the heart and soul of the author, her beautiful family, and sharing her true source of strength, an unfailing faith in God.

B. Davis Greer,
Author of "The Pegasus Affair"
ISBN: 1-4137-8817-3