I am astonished by the amount of research authors ferret through for facts to support an idea. In THE BOOKWOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK author Kim Michele Richardson has created a story enriched by the slightly altered -- literary license and all -- to provide the reader with an extraordinary look into a harsh time in our history.
There are many parts of American history and folklore that give you pause, and this is definitely the case in THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK. Kim Michele Richardson did a masterful job of recreating situations that abounded in the early 1900s and although we might profess to be shocked, there is the unspoken truth that many of these actions were all too frequent. And if we were completely honest with ourselves, it is a testimony to how many times civilized society was anything but. How many times can people excuse their violent and hurtful actions? In THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK, Kim Michele Richardson valiantly tries to explain some of these horrid actions as a result of misinformation or religious fears.
Nonsense. People don't always need a reason to be horrible. Indeed for some, it is just their nature. For some it's fear of the unknown. For some it\'s some deep-seated generations' long hatred. For some it's just plain meanness. In THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK, Cussy Mary daily runs across all these types. Cussy Mary's love of books instilled by her deceased mother and encouraged by her coal miner father has led to the one job that gives her otherwise dismal life a purpose and joy. She loves this job that requires arduous, at times, dangerous travel through the Troublesome community of hill dwellings to reach her library patrons. Time is hard and none more difficult than for the poor souls depending on the dying existence of the coal mines. They face danger at the job, hunger, and disease at home. And yet they plug on. And this is the story of Cussy Mary Carter, her father, and friends.
Cussy Mary is the last of her kind. She is a colored woman. Her skin is blue; her blood is brown. Her family discriminated against her entire life. Somehow, probably because she is intelligent and well-read, Cussy Mary finds joy in bringing books to her hill neighbors. Some receptive -- others not so. Somehow this strange young woman manages to bridge the gap with her loving and caring manner. But unfortunately, not everyone is open to her personal touch and manner. They are just too prejudiced, too racist.
As the story progresses in THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK ,we are exposed to the harsh realities. It is often a life and death struggle to survive. Hunger is rampant. Food is scarce ,and what these folk survive on can barely be considered sustenance. Cussy Mary's library patrons live in awful hobbles most have no real household supplies much less food. Those that actually allow Cussy Mary on their property have become dependent on her monthly visits with books, periodicals, out of date newspapers and such. Many do not read and treasure Cussy Mary's gift of reading to them. Surprisingly there are some that have learned how to read. But so many are frightened by these books. And of course ,there are those that wouldn't hesitate to bring harm to this young woman.
So in THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK ,we get to know these Kentucky mountain folk quite well through the eyes of their blue woman. Our reception to these people is not always kind. But neither are they. And that is the historical basis of this book. Again brilliantly conceived by Kim Michele Richardson.
In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry. The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.
Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government's new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a powerful message about how the written word affects people--a story of hope and heartbreak, raw courage and strength splintered with poverty and oppression, and one woman's chances beyond the darkly hollows. Inspired by the true and historical blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek showcases a bold and unique tale of the Pack horse Librarians in literary novels — a story of fierce strength and one woman's belief that books can carry us anywhere — even back home.
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