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A Novel
by Kim Michele Richardson
Book Reviewed by:Honey Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free.
In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.
Picking up her mother's old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn't need anyone telling her how to survive. But the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren't as keen to let a woman pave her own way.
If Honey wants to bring the freedom books provide to the families who need it most, she's going to have to fight for her place, and along the way, learn that the extraordinary women who run the hills and hollers can make all the difference in the world.
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek was a BookBrowse Top 10 Book Club Favorite in both 2020 and 2021.
Kentucky
They still call her Book Woman, having long forgotten the epithet for her cobalt-blue flesh, though she's gone now from these hills and hollers, from her loving husband and daughter and endearing Junia, her patrons and their heartaches and yearnings for more. But you must know another story, really all the other important stories that swirled around and after her, before they are lost to winters of rotting foliage and sleeping trees, swallowed into the spring hymnals of birdsong rising above carpets of phlox, snakeroot, and foxglove. These stories beg to be unspooled from Kentucky's hardened old hands, to be bound and eternally rooted like the poplar and oak to the everlasting land.
One Thousandsticks, Kentucky 1953
The bitter howls of winter, uncertainty, and a soon-to-be forgotten war rolled over the sleepy, dark hills of Thousandsticks, Kentucky, in early March, leaving behind an angry ache of despair. And though we'd practiced my escape many times, it still felt ...
Here are some of the comments posted about The Book Woman's Daughter in our legacy forum.
You can see the full discussion here.
Did you like or identify with any of Honey's patrons in particular? What do you think that character's future holds?
I could identify with Bonnie in particular. Strong, driven, head of a one parent household, force to endure men trying to hold her in check. Her future was bright even tho she endured some strong knocks from time to time. She was fearless and had a ... - taking.mytime
Did you read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek; if so, how do they compare?
I believe I liked the Troublesome Creek book best. It was the original book. This last book was good, but I believe the first was a bit better. This second book seemed to be, to me, more wordy - a couple places in the book I was saying - 'ok - ... - taking.mytime
Do you know what anti-miscegenation laws your state passed and when they were abolished? What do you believe the history of these laws can tell us about race and marriage in America, both then and now?
I did a search for Kansas miscegenation laws and could not find anything, but am not sure that is accurate. What I did find that the Kansas legislature seemed more focused on education and segregation. The Brown vs the Board of Education National ... - BuffaloGirl
Does prison labor for children still exist like the historical House of Reform in Kentucky? Do children have to work in juvenile facilities as they once did? Should they have to?
I think that is state regulated. It seems that not long ago a boys camp or reform school was shut down for mistreating their charges. Over working them. Too many private institutions like that still exist. There is a local 'Ranch' in my ... - taking.mytime
Had you heard of methemoglobinemia or the Blue People of Kentucky before?
Yes. I mentioned that I had traveled a lot as a child - my dad was an iron worker and we traveled for his work. Often we stayed in some pretty poor places since it would only be a week or two at a time. We stayed in some back woods areas of Kentucky ... - taking.mytime
Richardson's conveyance of time and place is exemplary, and her descriptions of the beauty and remoteness of Kentucky's hollers almost make them characters in their own right. She's also skilled at painting a complete picture of what life there may have been like — a life that could be grim at times. She fully captures her subjects' prejudices and superstitions, their fears and their loves, and their generous spirits; indeed, these three-dimensional portraits of her characters are perhaps the narrative's highlight...continued
Full Review
(647 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author (as Karen Abbott) of The Ghosts of Eden Park
Fierce, beautiful and inspirational, Kim Michele Richardson has created a powerful tale about brave extraordinary heroines who are downright haunting and unforgettable. Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of One Foot in Eden and Serena
A mesmerizing and beautifully rendered Appalachian tale of strong women, bravery, and resilience, told through the eyes of a new heroine reminiscent of Harper Lee's own Scout Finch. Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants
In Kim Michele Richardson's beautifully and authentically rendered The Book Woman's Daughter she once again paints a stunning portrait of the raw, somber beauty of Appalachia, the strong resolve of remarkable women living in a world dominated by men, and the power of books and sisterhood to prevail in the harshest circumstances. A critical and profoundly important read for our time. Badassery womanhood at its best! William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author of This Tender Land and Lightning Strike
Steeped in an intimate knowledge of the traditions and lore of the region and written with a loving eye to the natural beauty of the landscape, The Book Woman's Daughter is a brilliant and compelling narrative - a powerful portrait of the courageous women who fought against ignorance, misogyny, and racial prejudice.
At one point in Kim Michele Richardson's novel The Book Woman's Daughter, protagonist Honey Lovett discovers that a family friend attended a Moonlight School. The Moonlight Schools were the brainchild of Cora Wilson Stewart (1875-1958), an elementary school teacher and school superintendent in Rowan County, Kentucky. Born in the community of Farmers, Kentucky, she attended the Morehead Normal School (the term "normal school," derived from the French "école normale," referred to a teacher-training college), later known as Morehead State University, and the University of Kentucky before beginning her teaching career at the age of 20.
Stewart quickly discovered that the parents of many of her students were illiterate, and she ...
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