Series: Book Woman of Troublesome Creek Book 1
Genre: Historical Fiction
Length: 309 pages
Audiobook Length: 9 hours and 26 minutes
First Published: 2019
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Rachael’s Review
During the Great Depression, the Pack Horse Library Project in rural Kentucky brought books to rural Kentuckians through horseback-writing librarians. Nineteen-year-old Cussy Carter, the last remaining member of the rare blue-skinned Appalachian people, must overcome the suspicions of the locals and win their friendship to fulfill her mission of delivering books. After only a few chapters, I gave up on this one because I hated the writing style, feeling the story was too contrived and rather dull. Maybe I’ll try again someday, but I’m tabling this story for now.
Publisher’s Description
The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything—everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome’s got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.
Cussy’s not only a book woman, however, she’s also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy’s family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she’s going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler.
Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman’s belief that books can carry us anywhere—even back home.
Quotes from The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
I never understood why other people thought my color, any color, needed fixing.
Being able to return to the books was a sanctuary for my heart.
I had no right telling you how you should feel. No right claiming knowledge on things I could and will never feel.
About Kim Michele Richardson
Kim Michele Richardson is the author of the memoir The Unbreakable Child and four historical fiction novels, including The Books Woman of Troublesome Creek and The Book Woman’s Daughter. Richardson currently lives in Kentucky. Visit the author’s website →
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