The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
by Kim Michele Richardson
Sourcebooks Landmark, 2019, 320 pages, Historical Fiction

As a librarian with the Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Cussy Mary Carter spends her days travelling through Troublesome Creek, a backwoods area of Appalachia, bringing books to the hardscrabble folks who might not otherwise have access to them. But Cussy’s not only a book woman; she’s also one of the last blue-skinned people of Kentucky. Not everyone is keen on Cussy’s family or the Library Project, and as she travels her route and slowly gains the trust of the people she serves, Cussy must also face prejudice and suspicion in order to help the people she loves most.

This book is full of plenty of things that could leave me frustrated about humanity. Cussy and the people on her library route experience racism, hunger, horrible working conditions, forced marriage, and questionable medical practices. But at its very core, this is the story of a woman who wanders through the backwoods of Kentucky, and every time she meets someone she’s invited inside to talk about books and the love of reading. I found this, and the book’s ultimate message, so charming and hopeful that I just couldn’t stop reading. This is an upbeat book about a very hard time in U.S. history and about a group of people I don’t usually find in literature. This, combined with the excellent narration of the audiobook, has made this book one of my favorite books of the year so far. I consider this a more hopeful story that’s great for those who enjoyed reading books like Before We Were Yours.

MB