very interested and inspirational read
This beautifully written, warm, and touching novel is about one Book Woman who served her county in Kentucky near a small town center called Troublesome Creek for several years. It is a fictional novel, yet is based on well-researched historical facts.
Cussy Mary Carter, sometimes called “Bluet”, and sometimes called “Book Woman” is, according to her father, the last of “her kind”. Aside from all else, she is one of the rare people in the world who have congenital methemoglobinemia. Cussy Mary had the characteristic blue skin which occurs due to less oxygen in the blood. Thus, her nickname, “Bluet”. She was named “Cussy” for the town in France where her maternal great-grandfather lived before leaving for the United States.
Her story is inspiring. It is also heart-rending. Cussy Mary’s dedication to her “patrons” on her pack horse route brings her into contact with many events, some frightening, and some very touching. My heart went out to her many times during this book, and indeed, I felt such a strong bond with the people of this county in Kentucky and their children. So many of them were starved for knowledge and the sense of pride that comes from discovering that knowledge through reading. So many of them found hope in the stories of other people’s challenges and how they managed to overcome them.
This novel is very strong, and it is beautifully written. The one weak spot for me was near the beginning when Cussy Mary and her father have heated discussions about her future over a period of time. I understood the logic of both Cussy Mary and her father but I felt that their discussions could have been briefer as the long-term consequences were redeemed many times in many ways in the rest of the novel.
Cussy Mary Carter, sometimes called “Bluet”, and sometimes called “Book Woman” is, according to her father, the last of “her kind”. Aside from all else, she is one of the rare people in the world who have congenital methemoglobinemia. Cussy Mary had the characteristic blue skin which occurs due to less oxygen in the blood. Thus, her nickname, “Bluet”. She was named “Cussy” for the town in France where her maternal great-grandfather lived before leaving for the United States.
Her story is inspiring. It is also heart-rending. Cussy Mary’s dedication to her “patrons” on her pack horse route brings her into contact with many events, some frightening, and some very touching. My heart went out to her many times during this book, and indeed, I felt such a strong bond with the people of this county in Kentucky and their children. So many of them were starved for knowledge and the sense of pride that comes from discovering that knowledge through reading. So many of them found hope in the stories of other people’s challenges and how they managed to overcome them.
This novel is very strong, and it is beautifully written. The one weak spot for me was near the beginning when Cussy Mary and her father have heated discussions about her future over a period of time. I understood the logic of both Cussy Mary and her father but I felt that their discussions could have been briefer as the long-term consequences were redeemed many times in many ways in the rest of the novel.