THE BOOK WOMAN’S DAUGHTER is the sequel to THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK. Honey Marie Angeline Lovett is the daughter of a Blue, a condition that makes her both an outcast and the product of an illegal marriage. Her parents are accused of breaking the miscegenation laws and Honey is trying to forge her own path, staying one step ahead of the state social worker and sheriff who want to put her in a horrid children’s home. She follows in her mother’s path, getting a job working as an assistant librarian where she and her cantankerous mule deliver books to various folks in the Kentucky mountains. Honey even makes a best friend, a young woman named Pearl who is working as a fire watcher and has her own battles to fight in a job generally filled with men. Can Honey avoid being sent to the children’s reform school and make a living on her own or will the prejudices against her skin color and gender continue to overshadow her life?

I loved the story of Honey’s mother detailed in the prior book, but I love Honey’s story even more! Unlike her mother, Honey is generally able to hide her blue skin as it only shows on her hands and feet, particularly when she’s agitated or upset. Honey’s caring character shows through in all her relationships and her desire to be respectful to authority while wanting to maintain her own freedom is admirable. Her friendship with Pearl is charming, and the slice of life we see beyond the boundaries of Honey’s world are fascinating as we see the prejudices and hardships women face even without blue skin.

Kim Michele Richardson continues to showcase the hardships women faced in the 1950s while also giving us further insight into the packhorse librarian program and how it survived after the federal funds dried up and the role of fire watcher. Issues of discrimination based on race and gender are at the center of the story, but even more intriguing to me was the convoluted logic of the time that allowed a woman to marry at a young age (and not always by choice) but not live on her own. Readers who enjoy seeing a bit of the past brought to life will relish THE BOOK WOMAN’S DAUGHTER as Kim Michele Richardson does a marvelous job at making every aspect of the story line come to vivid life!