The Book Shelf in Tryon will welcome long-term Tryon residents, Ben Romine (author) and Patricia Cole-Ferullo (artist), on Saturday, Jan. 21 from 12-2 p.m. as they introduce and sign their new book, “Root of the Sacred Tree.”

Romine’s novel follows a psychiatrist whose life explodes under him and propels him onto an un-chosen path—a path that leads to a once-venerated Lakota elder who has abandoned his people and to a gifted young woman who has forgotten her calling. Through events and connections that will neither quit nor let them go, these three drifting souls are pulled together reluctantly into community. The path is rough. Unseen guides are not always gentle. But three flawed people are slammed into reconsidering themselves.

A stay on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota helped the author form and understand the story.

Cole-Ferullo’s cover has a story of its own. When Romine first saw it, the working title of his manuscript was “The Path Home” and the painting captured him. The title changed later but the image had applied itself to the tale. There was a moment when he considered setting the image aside, but in the end he decided that the reader could do some work, too.

– article submitted by David M. LaFave