Historical Fiction

Title: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Author: Kim Michele Richardson

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publication Date: May 7, 2019

Pages: 308 pages

Geographical Setting: Kentucky, Appalachian region 

Time Period: Great Depression, 1936

Series: No, but there is a follow-up book

Plot Summary:  

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is the story of a young woman who has lived as an outcast in the Appalachian Mountains during the Great Depression. She is the last of her kind, born with blue-tinged skin that deepens in color when she is scared or excited. Rejected by the town and others living in the hills and hollers, she feels the weight of her isolation her father's worries about her future. Her work as a traveling librarian keeps her busy until she is eventually married to an old, nasty man. She barely survives a week that begins with trauma and ends abruptly. The incident puts an end to her father's thoughts that marriage will protect her when his health gives in to the conditions of the coal mine and she is able to return to work as a packhorse librarian. 

The packhorse librarian program was started as part of the New Deal and the work gives her a sense of purpose. She travels on horseback through the mountains, delivering books to families and schools. Her work introduces her to an attractive new man in town whose love of reading and open-mindedness gives them a connection she doesn't expect. While many patrons begin to accept her in a way she never has been before, there are others in the community that she must stay on guard against to stay alive. 

Subject Headings:

Traveling libraries

Packhorse librarians

Kentucky

Books and reading

Prejudices

Appeals:

Story Line and Frame/Setting are major appeals of this book. As Wyatt and Saricks put it, "story line explains and contextualizes events, linking them to the settings of the period and to the particular characters and their motivations." They also write that the frame of historical fiction is important because it provides "richly layered details" about geography, society, and customs. 

Both of these appeals are evidenced in the historic details about library work, medicine in rural "Kaintuck" versus medicine available in the city, working the coal mines for "the company," and the beginning of the union labor movement. Additionally, the details of how poverty manifests in the condition of the houses and clothes, how pervasive and commonplace racism and prejudice were, and the harsh depiction of being a woman in the 1930s create layers of conflict in her story. 

The writing style is both descriptive and engaging, including scenes about that chores that the main character, Cussy Mary, does around the house that are descriptive enough to make the reader feel they are watching the coal dust from the sheets color the washing water and see her mule snatching bites of apple from the friendly new man on her route.

3 terms that best describe this book:

Engaging

Feminist

Well-researched

Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors

What are We Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte

"The book analyzes trends in contemporary writing on Appalachia, presents a brief history of Appalachia with an eye toward unpacking Appalachian stereotypes" (GoodReads).

Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia by Stephen Stoll

"Steven Stoll launches an original investigation into the history of Appalachia and its place in U.S. history, with a special emphasis on how generations of its inhabitants lived, worked, survived, and depended on natural resources held in common" (GoodReads).

Down Cut Shin Creek: the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky by Kathy Appelt and Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer 

This one is all about the packhorse librarians!

The Devil is Here in These Hills: West Virginia's Coal Miners and Their Battle for Freedom by James Green

For anyone wanting to learn more about her father's storyline with the coal mines and the labor movement.

Relevant Fiction Works and Authors

Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes

This story may actually be too similar for most readers to want to read both. Both were released in the same year and are about packhorse librarians in Appalachia during the great depression. There was apparently some controversy that they were both so similar.

The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah

Also set during the Great Depression, this one follows a family as they must head West in search of a better life.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingslover

Another story is also set in Appalachia, but in more modern times. It still shows the harsh reality of living off the land but the deep connection to it and the people who live in it in a similar way to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.