bookwomen

by Heather Jones

If you want to like a book about packhorse librarians in Appalachian, Kentucky, read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. If you want to love it, watch the author, Kim Michele Richardson talk about her beloved Appalachia and the literacy program that was created by a women's club in 1913 with the funding of a coal baron. 

Richardson calls the book women "fierce, brave women in poverty" who pioneered this program in a treacherous landscape during a pandemic, and the bloody coal mine wars. The women were paid $28 a month. Theirs was a labor of love. Most eye-opening in reading this novel was the realization that books were a scarce commodity for these librarians and, as a result, precious to the patrons.

The story follows Cussy Mary, an independent young woman who happens to be blue. Yes, she's blue due to a rare genetic condition called methemoglobinemia. The blue people, also known as the Fugates, were well-known in Kentucky despite living in relative isolation. The racial strife is on another level for Cussy Mary in The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.. At the absolute bottom of the food chain, navigating blue skin, generational poverty, and being a working woman in a time when most weren't. She's sexually harassed by a corrupt, local preacher and shunned by the ignorant. Although twisty and turny, the ending is satisfying when Cussy Mary gets hers.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek was recommended to me by a couple of folks who attended one of my recent book talks. I'm glad I read this story, but, as I often find, I'm most fascinated by the backstory. There's much more to this author, but she speaks for herself in interviews readily available with a quick search. Highly recommended!

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