Bea Reviews The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Source: Library via Overdrive
Release Date: May 7th, 2019
Buying Links: Amazon* | Apple Books* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | Kobo |
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Blurb from goodreads:

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:

I've had my eye on this book since it came out. I liked the idea of traveling librarians bringing books to people unable to get to a library. And I had never heard of blue people. My turn finally came at the library and the book did not disappoint. 

Cussy Mary, the main character, is a teen girl who learned to love books and reading from her late mother. She and her father live in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky and her father is a coal miner. Cussy gets the job to help contribute to the family income. But it's more than a paycheck for her. She delights in her patrons - choosing books for them, reading to them, even helping them with minor chores. She rides her mule six days a week, with each day having its own route. There's no road, sometimes there's a path, and days can be twelve hours long. Her job, and its patrons, is one of the few bright spots in her life. She and her father have blue skin and are considered colored, treated as such, ie poorly. 

Richardson writes a compelling, engaging story. It was poignant, enraging, encouraging, maddening, and hopeful. With a clear eye, lush and picturesque prose, and characters who pull at your heart and make you smile, cry, and scream (the doctor was such an a**hole, no bedside manner at all and no compassion), "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" was a page turner. I wanted Mary Cussy and her father to have a chance at a good life and at happiness. While the plot veered at times into soap opera territory, all of the details and events were carefully plotted with little waste. It was a tight story and an eye-opening look into a different time in the history of the USA. 1930s Kentucky sometimes felt like a foreign country. Whether you enjoy historicals, love stories, or medical mysteries, this story will capture you and take you to another world.