The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

This book was so interesting and the history fascinating! It was hard to read at times with that the main character went through. I loved the horseback librarian history and recommend this book to any historical fiction lovers.

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

I liked this book about a Kentucky Blue woman and her library. I never heard of the Blue Folk of Kentucky before. It’s quite amazing that these women, who worked for the WPA, through a program of Roosevelt, carried so many books to mountain people, just where they could read. They helped the schools, as well as families. It only lasted for 4 years, but the number of books loaned out is astonishing. If you’re a book lover, you need to read about Cussy Mary and her library.

What an interesting story. I have never heard about the blues. This takes place in the Kentucky hills and is a history of the brave women (rarely mem) who rode or walked those hills to deliver books, newspapers, pamphlets, etc to their patrons. Mostly the poor people scratching out a living. Racism shows through in the way blacks and anyone not white are treated. Also, it touches on black lung in the coal miners who worked for the company. This is a good book if you like the past…

I finished this book over the weekend and am still haunted by the story. Wonderful development of the characters. This book is a tribute to the Book Women who rode countless miles to deliver knowledge and pleasure to the mostly poor communities during Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project. This book will absorb your attention and warm your heart; it is an all-around great read that you will feel was well worth your time.

The Bookv Woman of Troublesome Creek is the name of Kim Michele Richardson’s well-researched book about the Packorse Librarians of 1930s Kentucky. They took books to Appalachian families who couldn’t be reached any other way. This book was hard to put down, but I also didn’t want it to end. Richardson did a splendid job of showing how the “blue” people were treated inhumanely. They had blue skins due to the condition called Methemoglobinemia. The people who mocked and ostracized them were not wealthy or of high status themselves, so it showed that those other poor mountain dwellers needed to have someone to look down on, to make themselves feel superior to at least one group of people. In this case, that disenfranchised rgoup were those of “color” which included both “Blues” and African-Americans. The author and her protagnoist, “Blue” librarian Mary Carter Cussy, are very compassionate people who genuinlye care about the pain of others. One of my favorite quotes from the book was found on page 68:
Two of her snobby fellow librarians were making fun of someone, and Mary thinks, “Silently, I unpacked a box of books, knowing their mirth came at another’s expense.”
Richardson presents well-drawn characters that the reader truly cares about, and I found myself wanting to “fix” things for Mary Cussy. I won’t give away spoilers. Will the doctor’s “Cure” for her Methemoglobinemia? Will Mary find a suitor or any true friends who love her as she is, blue skin and all?
I do have to disagree with one point. It isn’t just prejudice that causes people to object to fierst cousins marrying; that is a moral issue as well as one of genetic defects, not one of bigotry. But this is otherwise a great book that I recommend.

Wow!!! This was an amazing book. I learned, laughed, cried, and simply could not put it down.

Good writing that captivates and informs while riveting your attention.

History mixed with excellent storytelling
Loved it

Michele Richardson
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
I was caught up in the action and conflict of this book, nesting comfortably out of winter weather, as the Pack Horse Librarians faced all the hazards. I had heard of the blue people and was fascinated by explanations of (methemoglobinemia) lack of enzyme, otherwise healthy, undeserving of others’ fear and hatred. “Colored” laws applied, and discrimination could turn deadly. I was touched that Cussy and her father, each worried about dangers to the other, while each insisted on doing important work. My heart warmed to the special folk who didn’t judge color.
“Anyone knows a Kentucky man ain’t gonna let the wandering legs plant themselves anyplace other than here” reminded me of storyteller Stephen Hollen’s mountain tales.
Mention of a “children’s moon” in the daytime was sweet but sad. Hunger meant early bedtimes, “That there were stores full of the cure for hunger kept me awake with . . . anger”