The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson Series: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek #1
on May 7, 2019
Genres: Fiction / Historical / General, Fiction / Small Town & Rural, Fiction / Women
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
RECOMMENDED BY DOLLY PARTON IN PEOPLE MAGAZINE!
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
A LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
The bestselling historical fiction novel from Kim Michele Richardson, this is a novel following Cussy Mary, a packhorse librarian and her quest to bring books to the Appalachian community she loves, perfect for readers of William Kent Kreuger and Lisa Wingate. The perfect addition to your next book club!
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.
Look for The Book Woman's Daughter, the new novel from Kim Michele Richardson, out now!
Other Bestselling Historical Fiction from Sourcebooks Landmark:
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict
The Engineer's Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood
Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris
My Review
I am not even sure where to begin with this book. I guess I will say right from the start I absolutely loved it. This book made me smile, made me cry and well broke my heart. This story was inspired by true events in American history. The poverty and racism here is absolutely heartbreaking. I feel like I learned a little something from reading this story that I was not aware of before. I had never heard of Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project or about the blue-skinned people of Kentucky. I am not saying that Cussy Mary Carter is a real person but she was created based on a real family called the Fugates whose skin was blue-tinged due to a recessive gene in which they carried according to mprnews.org. Here is the link I found that information:
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/03/05/ask-a-bookseller-the-bookwoman-of-troublesome-creek
This is the story of Cussy Mary Carter a young woman who is nineteen years old. She also happens to be the last of her kind. Meaning the last of the blue-skinned people in Kentucky or at least that is what she and her Pa believe. Cussy also known as Bluet by her patrons is a Pack Horse Librarian in Troublesome Creek. Her route is a difficult and dangerous one but it is one that she has come to love due to her patrons. People of color are not treated well in this small community and when they work for the Pack Horse Library they are given the worst and most dangerous possible routes so Cussy Mary is no exception. This however does not deter her in the least because she believes in books and the magic of them teaching and transporting you to another land, place, or time. She believes that they have the power to make a person’s life better. Better in the sense that one will be able to learn so that they can have a better life and occupation.
As we follow Cussy throughout the story we meet many characters along the way who are struggling to put food on their tables in order to keep their families and themselves alive. I will say the poverty in this story is absolutely heartbreaking and many people die including children due to starvation and disease caused by lack of nutrients. Each character we come across during her travels is strong though and for the most part, she has good relationships with them. That is not to say that everyone is kind to Cussy Mary however because there is a good amount of racism from the towns folk in this book. She definitely faces her share of challenges and abuse throughout the story.
Cussy’s Pa is a coal miner and has come down with what they call the lung disease that the miners are known to suffer from. He worries that once he is gone she will have no one to take care of her. It is his wish that she is married off so he will not have to worry about her. He also had made a promise to his wife and her Mama that he would make sure she is taken care of. This is a promise in which he intends to keep even if Cussy has other ideas which include not marrying. She does not want to lose her job with the Pack Horse Librarians which would happen if she were to marry. I am going to leave this here because I do not want to spoil this bit of the book for anyone. I will say though that the results are both heartbreaking and happy.
I will say that I very much enjoyed Cussy’s interactions with Queenie and some of her patrons. I found her to be an incredibly brave young woman and a bit ahead of her time. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series and will hopefully get to it soon. If you decide to pick this one up please be aware that it has some heavier topics and there are some trigger warnings that you should be aware of. I will as always list them down below but until next time Happy Reading.
Trigger Warnings:
- Parental Death
- Spousal Abuse
- Racism
- Sexual Assualt
- Suicide
- Death After Giving Birth
- Starvation
- Child Death