#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | A REESE WITHERSPOON X HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK“A great narrative about personal strength and really captures how books bring communities together.” —Reese WitherspoonFrom the author of The Last Letter from Your Lover, now a major motion picture on Netflix, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of … their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond in Depression-era America
Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve, hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.
The leader, and soon Alice’s greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who’s never asked a man’s permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.
What happens to them–and to the men they love–becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity, and passion. These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. And though they face all kinds of dangers in a landscape that is at times breathtakingly beautiful, at others brutal, they’re committed to their job: bringing books to people who have never had any, arming them with facts that will change their lives.
Based on a true story rooted in America’s past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope and epic in its storytelling. Funny, heartbreaking, enthralling, it is destined to become a modern classic–a richly rewarding novel of women’s friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond.more
The Giver of Stars is JoJo Moyes’ historical novel about the Packhorse Library Program of the Works Progress Asministdation, which brought books to poor Appakachian residents who lived in areas reachable only by foot or horse. The book does a great job of portraying both benefits of and opposition to the wonderful program, Moyes shows the ups and downs of the pioneering and rewarding library work, as well as the blessings of female friendships in a challenging but beautiful environment. The realistic characters were well-drawn, and I felt empathy for the librarians. Visiting the Kentucky mountains three times, Moyes put a lot of research and work into this book – and it shows! The best collection of photos that I found was at the University of Kentucky website for
Packhorse Librarians in Kentucky
WPA Project 1936 – 1943
Goodman-Paxton Photographic Collection University of Kentucky
I loved this book and these 5 women that made up the horseback library. It was very heartfelt and gave an honest look into what these women endured during this period in time.
A rare find. This is one of those books that inspires and informs.
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The Giver of Stars is bold, brilliant, and beautiful. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year; it’s going straight on my favorites list. It’s a novel about books, strong women, positive female friendships, and more. Jojo Moyes is a talented storyteller, and this book is one of her best yet. I cannot recommend it enough!
One of the best books ive.read in awhile. Great characters,thoughtful story sometimes hard to read.
Not one of her best…
Beautifully written,engaging and it created another time in society.
6 Stars!!
Oh my goodness! This book was fun, feisty, and female empowering. It was also deeply heartbreaking and often frustrating while imagining a time that so many societal factors worked against African Americans, the poor, and especially women. In general, I’ve been an admirer of historical fiction that centered around the early 20th century, but The Great Depression had always been especially interesting. The setting of this particular Depression-era story was a geographical area I had yet to encounter in a historical, as well as featuring facts I’d yet learned about or at the least, not enough. That a novel which chronicled the inception of the Kentucky WPA Packhorse Library managed to move me in so many ways, was fairly incredible. The author did an amazing job showing the hard-earned strength and camaraderie within this group of women librarians. These heroines weren’t the staid and demure females often pictured as a “librarian.” They were overcomers, adventurous, and tough in mind and spirit. A few of them only realized their strength after joining the venture. Although those female relationships were the backbone of this story, a couple of romantic subplots were also highlighted and made my heart swoon. Overall, The Giver of Stars was an accomplished story with the potential to reach many audiences as it touched on historical facts, injustices, romance, and basic human rights. This was definitely a top read of 2019!
Notes on the audiobook: I mostly listened to the audio version of The Giver of Stars which was narrated by the always fabulous Julia Whelan. I’ve yet to listen to a story with this narrator that hasn’t been incredibly performed. At times, this narrator has out-performed the material she’s been given. In this case, both the written and spoken word were equally well done.
JoJo Moses brings to the reader’s attention a piece of our history that is not well known but should be. The women who volunteered and manned traveling libraries in underserved regions had an unmeasurable effect on their own lives an their communities. This fictional account gives the reader a glimpse into that time.
A little slow at first but a good plot and strong women
Awesome book! Didn’t want it to end. I hope there is a sequel.
Wonderful Story
I won a copy of this book from Goodreads Giveaways, I was not required to give a favorable review. This was a wonderful historical book about a story that has always fascinated me. Women taking the time during the depression to go into places that some of them had never been to make sure that people had the ability to get and possible being able to teach them to read A lot of the time these women were alone on horseback in are of the country that a lot of people wouldn’t know or go into. These women were strong and independent to a point and had to deal with a lot of male prejudices along the way. Thank Jojo for writing such a strong story about women during some of the countries trails.
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. I was really looking forward to this book as I’ve loved Jojo’s other ones. When I started it I was a little wrong-footed at the subject matter but boy did the plot develop. Great characterisation with the library horsewomen and a terrific insight into the mores of the time, with Alice failing to “fit” anywhere. Harsh parenting and brutal misogyny and prejudice. How fabulous to see Izzy blossom and a great mix of pathos and uplifting friendship with Margery and the other girls. I loved the book and loved how Fred and Sven modelled how true relationships should be. Fantastic job Jojo!
Truly one of the best books I have read this year. You will feel transported to the mountains of southeastern Kentucky and share in the experiences of these 5 women of the horseback librarians of Kentucky. You will experience their joys, fears and tears. I did not know about these part of history and found it truly fascinating.
I was so excited to see that Ms. Moyes had chosen to write a historical fiction novel and was fortunate enough to obtain an advanced readers copy. It is different from her previous contemporary women’s fiction and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This book is a quick read, the prose flows beautifully and the plot moves along at a good pace. I found the characters to be well developed, interesting and unique.
As you all know from the blurb this book is based on the 1930’s Horseback Librarians program in Kentucky which was started by Eleanor Roosevelt. The purpose was to bring books and thus help educate and enrich the lives of people who lived in the hills in the Appalachian countryside of Kentucky. The program asked a lot of the women who would ride horses and mules laden with books many miles, often in inclement weather, to reach the homes and families in the mountains.
When the call goes out in Baileyville, Kentucky for volunteers for the program there is a myriad of different women with unique personalities. The group is headed by Magery O’Hare who has lived in these mountains her entire life and knows all of the routes up the mountains. She is a fiercely independent woman having suffered from the iron fist of her bootlegger father who died when she was young.
Into the mix we meet Alice Wright a newly arrived English woman who has come to marry Bennett Van Cleve, a wealthy son of a mine baron whom she met on his European tour. Alice wanted so badly to leave her sheltered, suffocating life in England that she fell for the handsome American very quickly. She is disappointed to find that they will not be living in Louisville as she had previously thought, but instead this small town called Baileyville. She soon finds that living with her father in law is just an impossible situation as he has set rules for the household that she must abide by. When she gets the chance to volunteer for the library program she jumps at the chance to get out of the house, meet other women and explore the beautiful mountains.
There is also Beth, Izzy and an African American woman named Sonia who all help out with the running of the library. Their stories I will leave you to discover.
Though the library sounds like a good idea to some, there are others in the town who don’t like mingling with the mountain people and have restricted views of what a woman should be doing with her life. They are up for a battle against these strong and courageous women.
There are many obstacles for them to overcome including racism, prejudice against women working outside the home, physical limitations and suspicion about Alice because she speaks differently and is considered an outsider.
The novel strengthens my belief of the importance of books in everyone’s lives. How fortunate we all are that there are libraries and bookstores where we can enrich our lives with an immense selection of books to suit our every need and taste.
This book will introduce you to the Horseback Librarian program, the beautiful hills of Kentucky and some pretty awful people who only see the hills as a place to mine coal and make their pockets heavy without a thought to the beauty they are destroying. Intruders are not welcome!
I recommend this book to anyone who wants a great historical read with wonderfully descriptive writing and characters that you will not soon forget.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.
The book is set to publish October 8, 2019 and is soon to be a major motion picture!
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes worth five thought provoking stars. I honestly wasn’t sure about this one, I’m not a huge lover of historical fiction, but this is my favourite of the genre. This is based on true events but adds drama and tells us the story of the Horseback Librarians of Kentucky. I am sure this will become a best seller not just because of who wrote it, but because of the story that is told.