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Ghost On Black Mountain Summary

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In Ann Hite's suspenseful masterpiece, Ghost on Black Mountain, five women become unknowingly connected by one man, Hobbs Pritchard. The story begins from the point of view of Nellie Pritchard, who gives up everything to move to her husband's home on Black Mountain. She quickly notices that Hobbs is not well liked on the mountain. Through Nellie's interactions and conversations with other characters, including several ghosts, readers uncover the reasons why Hobbs is hated and often avoided by the others on Black Mountain. Through the account of Josie Clay, Nellie's mother, readers are able to learn more about the events of Nellie's childhood, which play a role in her decision to marry Hobbs Pritchard without knowing much about him. In the accounts …show more content…

Not only does place influence an individual, but the individual influences the place as well. For Nellie Pritchard and Rose Gardner, Black Mountain interacted with them as a person would. For Nellie, the mountain reflected her feelings of desperation, death, and becoming lost or a part of the land. Rose stated that "the mountain had become my home, a safe friend.." and saw it as a healer and a new beginning with Jack Allen after Hobbs' death. To Josie Clay, the mountain evoked loss and regret, as it took her daughter away and was a part of what drove her daughter to commit murder. Iona Harbor did not live on Black Mountain, but she was forever connected to it through her mother and for her role in Lonnie Allen's death there. Iona sums up the impact of place best when she states that "there was no doubt the place [Darien] was in my bones." Here, she emphasizes the deep and personal connections that we have with places and the people who live in those places. Place is not simply the location or physical geography of an area, but it is also the people, values, beliefs, and traditions of the area as well. The physical geography of Black Mountain and Appalachia, as well as its cultural and human geography allowed Ann Hite to create a chilling, but beautiful portrait of this specific place and tie together five women's perspectives and experiences with both the good and bad elements of this

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