Beautiful story about the power of books and love
I absolutely loved the story of Cussy Mary Carter, a book woman in Troublesome Creek, Kentucky, and the last of the blue-skinned people. This is a story of the love of books, the independence of a woman, and the prejudices of people.
It is a beautifully written story, cloaked in history of the Pack Horse Library project during the depression, and the blue-skinned people of the Appalachian hills of Kentucky. It is a story of determination against all odds.
Cussy Mary Carter is a young woman who is an outcast because of the color of her skin. She is blue and due to her skin's coloring, people treat her as if she is a witch or a monster. She receives the brunt and sting of racial discrimination. Others love her because she is Book Woman - bringing them books from the library and introducing them to reading. She is kind and compassionate and hard-working. Her mom died, and her father is sick with black lung from working in the mines. She is married off to a Frazier who beats her and leaves her harmed. Her father rescues her, and nurses her back to health. She tells her father she is content to be unmarried. She meets Jackson Lovett, and feels something for him, but knows it cannot be as no one will be interested in a "blue".
The stories of the families that Cussy meets and interacts with along her route are wonderful stories, and at times, are heartbreaking.
This is a wonderful book about the power of books and of love.
#TheBookWomanOfTroublesomeCreek #KimMicheleRichardson
It is a beautifully written story, cloaked in history of the Pack Horse Library project during the depression, and the blue-skinned people of the Appalachian hills of Kentucky. It is a story of determination against all odds.
Cussy Mary Carter is a young woman who is an outcast because of the color of her skin. She is blue and due to her skin's coloring, people treat her as if she is a witch or a monster. She receives the brunt and sting of racial discrimination. Others love her because she is Book Woman - bringing them books from the library and introducing them to reading. She is kind and compassionate and hard-working. Her mom died, and her father is sick with black lung from working in the mines. She is married off to a Frazier who beats her and leaves her harmed. Her father rescues her, and nurses her back to health. She tells her father she is content to be unmarried. She meets Jackson Lovett, and feels something for him, but knows it cannot be as no one will be interested in a "blue".
The stories of the families that Cussy meets and interacts with along her route are wonderful stories, and at times, are heartbreaking.
This is a wonderful book about the power of books and of love.
#TheBookWomanOfTroublesomeCreek #KimMicheleRichardson