"...a captivating historical novel...a delicious read filled with
history, intrigue, adventure, danger, finding faith and discovering
God..." —Deseret News
“Mattie” is history made alive as we follow a young woman through a
crisis of faith, life threatening adventures, and heartbreaking romance.
Twice, she falls in love with the wrong men before returning to her
roots in Mexico to marry the man she didn’t know she loved. Then
suddenly, war descends on her happily-ever-after, and Mattie must bring
to bear her budding faith and indomitable spirit to survive.
A History
Behind the Story
By M. Ann Rohrer
In
late 1800’s the Mormon Church purchased property in Chihuahua, Mexico. Within a
short time, about thirteen communities were settled—Colonies as they were
called, the two major colonies being Colonia Dublan and Colonia Juárez. Several
years after arriving, George Sevey and his wife gave birth to a little girl,
Martha Ann Sevey. They called her Mattie.
She
is my grandmother.
I am named for her. When I was fifteen, she
gave me her silver medallion necklace with a gold M inset. The year I went to
high school in Colonia Juarez, I ate lunch often at grandma’s house. Her home
was the gathering place for our big summer reunions. Famous for her cooking,
breakfast being my favorite, she made pancakes so large they barely fit on our
plates. At Grandma’s house I experienced the outhouse, chamber pots, the
wood-cooking stove, the wringer washer, green apples, large gardens, irrigation
ditches, canning produce, milk buckets, churning butter, and gathering eggs.
Grandma had a great sense of humor and a matter-of-fact approach to life. I
grew up listening to her life history. We share a similar experience from our
courting days. Grandma was not a journal keeper, and I wanted to tell her
story.
Enjoy an Excerpt from Mattie
She hated God.
Gentle rains made little difference in
the suffocating heat this first day of summer, yet eleven-year-old
Martha Ann Sevey shivered. The pungent smell of death, mixed with sweet
carbolic acid and saltpeter, seeped through the high-ceiling parlor
below. It wafted up through the wood floor right into Mattie’s bedroom
invading her olfactory senses. Worse than the odiferous scent was the
ghastly vision of her father (she refused to think of him as “the
body”). Laid out on a board supported by two sawhorses, he was covered
with rags drenched in the offensive mixture. To slow decay, her mother
had explained, which conjured dreadful pictures in Mattie’s young,
imaginative mind.”
Available from
Meet the Author
Martha Ann Robinson Rohrer was born in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua,
Mexico. At age nine, she moved with her family to Toquepala, Peru, South
America, where they lived for ten years. After attending Juarez Stake
Academy in Mexico her sophomore year, she returned to Peru and finished
her junior and senior years through correspondence. In 1965, the family
returned to the United States, settling in Tucson, Arizona. Ann served a
two-year mission to Mexico City, Mexico Mission. She is married to John
Rohrer and they live in Pasco, Washington. They have five boys, one
daughter, and at present, thirteen grandchildren.
Email: annrobinsonrohrer@gmail.com
Connect with the author at:
Email: annrobinsonrohrer@gmail.com
Twitter: twitter.com/AnnRohrer
URL: authorannrohrer.com
