Cussy Mary (Bluet) the Book Woman

The Book Woman Of Troublesome Creek by author Kim Michele Richardson is a wonderful historical fiction novel. It takes place during the 1930’s in the hills and valleys of backwoods Kentucky. There Cussy Mary, a 19 year old blue skinned girl lives with her pa in a cabin in the woods. Cussy Mary, also known as Book Woman, is a Pack Horse librarian. Her job is to deliver much anticipated books and other reading material to her patrons on horseback through the sometimes treacherous terrain. What amazed me was that during the Depression when food was scarce, the patrons were more interested in receiving the written word via books and old newspapers, that they thought nothing of sharing what little food they had to survive. Cussy’s father is a coal miner who works nights leaving her alone to fend for herself. While some of the locals treat Cussy with respect, a great deal of them are prejudice and look down on her as being colored. It’s a story of one young woman’s struggle and perseverance against hardships and prejudices to live a happy and fulfilling life. I really enjoyed reading this and want to thank BookishFirst for gifting me the arc. I highly recommend it to all historical fiction readers and give it a 5 star rating.