The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Title: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Author: Kim Michele Richardson

Publisher: 7th May 2019 by Sourcebooks Landmark

Pages: 320 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: historical fiction

My Rating: 3.5 cups

Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts

‘Their hunger for books could teach them of a better life free of the hunger, but without food they’d never live long enough or have the strength to find it.’

In the author’s words this book is “a fascinating and important footnote of history” detailing the blue-skinned people and the Pack Horse librarians, both of Kentucky - two things I had no knowledge of. Isn’t it fabulous when a unique story is created regarding a piece of history little known about? Add to that strong characterisation combined with themes of prejudice and poverty, and there is much to be gained from this read. 

‘I liked my freedom a lot—loved the solitude these last seven months had given me—and I lived for the joy of bringing books and reading materials to the hillfolk who were desperate for my visits, the printed word that brought a hopeful world into their dreary lives and dark hollers. It was necessary.’

A fictional account, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, tells the story through the eyes of Cussy Mary - the supposed last of the blue-skinned people - how she became one of the travelling librarians and the relationships she develops with those to whom she delivers books. Mary’s world is a hard and cruel place, not only through the prejudice she endures due to her skin colour, but also because the hills of Kentucky were a rough and rugged place to live at that time. There is a lot of sadness and the writing delivers some heartbreaking moments:

“Why couldn’t you let him grow up?” I curled myself into a tight ball on the blood-soaked Kentucky soil, wailing for Henry and all the Henrys in these dark hollows who’d never be a common grown-up. Stuck forever as Peter Pans.

Mary’s story is engaging in itself, however, it’s the small glimpses into some of the secondary characters that really shed rays of hope, and at the other extreme, pure sorrow into the reader’s heart. There is some good writing here  (if you can adjust to the southern accent) and it is well researched, not only the Pack Horse Library project, but also themes such as rural poverty, life of a coal miner, discrimination and more. 

She latched on to my hand and laid the apology with a firm grip. I looked down at us bound together like that, tried to draw back, but Angeline squeezed tighter and whispered, “Hain’t no harm. Our hands don’t care they’s different colors. Feels nice jus’ the same, huh?”

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek will in equal measures break and warm your heart. I struggled at times but with much to offer, I am happy I persevered. There is much to learn from history and of course at its heart, it’s a story about books and how, even in the toughest times, they can add a little light and pleasure. 

‘... it was our first taste of what a library could give, a taste to be savored—one that left behind a craving for more.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.