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The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

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What an interesting read! The historical aspect of this book was intriguing, and something I knew nothing about. Cussy Carter is a traveling librarian, but she also is the last of her kind--a woman whose skin is a shade of blue. This has meant that Blues have been accused of causing problems in the past. This was an amazing read that challenges prejudices that people have, not only about skin color but about books and how they can allow anyone to travel to other worlds.

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This stunning book, "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" written by Kim Michele Richardson, is typical of why I am hooked on reading Historical Fiction. With a fictional tale intertwined with factual history, you are transported to another time and place. A bit like time travel but without the Daleks.

While I have heard of Negro "coloured people" I had never heard of the blue-skinned people of Kentucky, who were treated in the same prejudiced disgraceful way as black-skinned people. This tale of Cussy Mary, the book-woman, humanises and brings to light the extremely rare (in this case congenital) disease that causes skin to be blue which today is called Methemoglobinemia. It is a blood disorder in which an abnormal amount of methemoglobin is produced. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries and distributes oxygen to the body. Methemoglobin is a form of hemoglobin. With methemoglobinemia, the hemoglobin can carry oxygen, but is not able to release it effectively to body tissues manifesting itself as blue skin due to the lack of oxygen.

Set in 1936, Cussy Mary Carter (known as Bluet) lives tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, Kentucky. She is the last living female of the rare blue people ancestry line, which is believed to have come from France. She works as a Book Woman (librarian) for the Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky, riding lonely and dangerous mountain trails on her faithful mule Junia to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky. These folk are poor in money, health and material things but are big in heart and accept Bluet for the wonder she brings them through the gift of reading and are unfazed by the colour of her skin.

Sadly many people in the town of Troublesome Creek, along with law makers of the day, cause the blues to be shunned and shamed, suffering because of skin colour and inherited genes.

I loved Bluet....her deep down love for the mountain people, her empathy, courage and hope for them. I am still hoping she will find that happy ending.

The research is thorough and I believe precise. And thank Kim Michele Richardson, Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the chance to read and enjoy this story.

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Many thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and Kim Michele Richardson for the opportunity to read and review this book - 5 stars! I probably upped my rating because of all the hype going on with Jo Jo Moyes' new book, The Giver of Stars, and the passages seemingly plagiarized from this book. I love Moyes' books, but the similarities are just too close to be coincidental.

Both of the main topics in this book were new to me. Blue-skinned people? Never heard of them. The Pack Horse Library Project in Kentucky - wow. If that doesn't pique your interest - there are so many topics in this book to explore - this would be such a wonderful book club pick. Prejudice, poverty, hope, resilience. Kudos to this author for an amazingly well-researched book.

Cussie Mary is the last in the line of blue-skinned people in Troublesome Creek, Kentucky. She also joined the Pack Horse Library Project in the Appalachians, bringing written books and material to the people who lived in the hills. She covered miles and miles of scary routes to bring her patrons these books, while also dealing with prejudice against her skin color.

Highly recommended!

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Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read and review this book.

A choice part of Kentucky history was revealed in this story. Not only the labor of the book women, but also the blue skinned population.

Cussy Mary, ashamed of being a blue skin, took her job as one of the Book woman of Troublesome Creek to help educate the back hills people. Not only was she ashamed of her blue birth right, but she was often abused because of it. She was labeled as 'colored', a secondary citizen.

It is refreshing to see how Cussy survives and thrives through this story. Richardson did a great job of expressing the difficulties that this blue population was put through, while she was also retelling the story of how the book women cherished their roles of getting books to the forgotten back hills populations in Kentucky.

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This story really touched me and made me think of how much reading and books can change anyone’s life. Cussy Mary is one of my favorite characters that I have read this year. She is not going to let anything stop her from delivering books along her route as a Pack Horse Librarian. Her clients are all poor people in Kentucky who don’t have enough to eat, let alone read. Cussy is called Bluet by most people because she is the color blue. (I honestly had to look up the blue people of Kentucky and it is fascinating.) You will be rooting for her to find her happily ever after because she is the kindest person. She will give up food for herself to help others. I love how she could convince even the most stubborn person to get into reading something. There really is something for everyone. My hats are off to all those people who rode their horse, their donkey, or a stubborn mule like the delightful Junia, to deliver books, magazines. They expanded the minds of those who would otherwise not have it.

I was in tears throughout the book. You will feel everything that Cussy feels. There were a few stories that really got to me, especially Angelica and little Henry. The poverty and racism will hit you right in your soul.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of this lovely book.

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Teenager Cussy Carter becomes a traveling librarian, delivering reading material to folks beyond means of travel other than four-legged. Nicknamed Bluet as the last female of the Blue People of Kentucky, she bravely faces dangerous trails to support literacy in her part of the world, and connect with her neighbors, often as the only other face they see. As bigotry causes cataclysmic shifts in her own life, she maintains her route, offering more than books to her customers. Richardson presents a compelling portrait of an isolated people, especially the family who suffers more severe hardships for their indigo skin, in the hollers of Appalachia. Combining that history with the librarians who traversed ignorance as much as menacing terrain provides a unique character in Cussy Carter. I was fortunate to receive this wonderfully written story from the publisher Sourcebooks Landmark through NetGalley.

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Very interesting premise and great book! I knew nothing about these traveling librarians, or the "blue people" and was fascinated. A must-read for any book lover!

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Such an enjoyable historical novel! Set in Appalachian Kentucky in the 1930s, the story follows Cussy (Bluet) Carter who is part of a family that has blue skin due to an undiagnosed medical condition (true story!). She is poor, is loved deeply by her father, loves books and works as a "book woman" bringing books to the mountain people (also true!), and is an outcast because she is different. Cussy is amazing, but learning bout all of the others she meets on her journeys and how deeply she cares for them is really the heart of this story. Pure reading enjoyment! Will be gifting this to friends and family for Christmas :) Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing an advance copy for review.

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Unique story. The book made me so curious about Blue People of Kentucky, I did further research.

However, I didn't like the story as I hoped I would. I had hard time connecting to main characters, and sometimes the flow of the narrative was lost on me.

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One of the most impressively evocative books I've read in quite awhile.
Meticulously researched, I definitely learned a thing or two about the Kentucky "blue people."
I had heard of them before but this book explains the medical facts behind it even though the book is fictional.
I had not heard of the Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project before this book. It's great to see how important books were to the people delivering them and to the people receiving them. Getting books delivered was the only visitors some of these hill people received so a visit was always welcome.
One thing you could count on with these people, though they were living in poverty you could not find more "real" people.
Hardship was a way of life, if I needed a button you would share it with me if you needed a cup of vinegar I would share with you.
There are no airs being put on with these hill people, what you see is what you're going to get, the good and the bad both. Black lung is a common death for these mining men. A fierce and heart-wrenching book for all book lovers that shines the spotlight on librarians, showing the significant role they play in developing a love of reading in so many of us.

Published May 7th 2019 by Sourcebooks Landmark
I was given a complimentary copy Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

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Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Not having any prior knowledge of the blue-skinned people in Kentucky, I was definitely interested to read this novel. My favorite part was actually the history lesson and accompanying photographs at the end of the book, as the author did a good job of explaining both the history of the blue-skinned people and the book women who traveled through treacherous conditions to serve the rural population. The racism that the characters faced seemed genuine to the time period, as I can only assume that the blue-skinned and the blacks were treated similiarly. The toughness, both mental and physical, of the book women was also well represented, giving readers a clear picture as to the harshness of the conditions.

The underlying story was good, although I found it to be a little drawn out in places and rushed in others. I wish the author had narrowed the focus to Cussy Mary Carter, instead of giving indistinct side plots to lesser characters. Overall, I liked the historical feeling of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and would recommend it to other readers.

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A Book About Determination, Love and Racism
Kim Michele Richardson did an excellent job researching the material for this book. This was the first book I read by her but I would definitely seek out some of her others. It took place in Appalachia, Troublesome Creek, Kentucky to be exact during the mid 1930's. The story was about a young girl, Cussy Mary, with a blue hue to her skin that lived in the far rural areas of Kentucky. The few inhabitants that had this rare genetic condition were grouped with the other people of color living in the region. They were often mistreated and suffered from racism. It was a very rare inherited condition known as methemoglobinemia, that was believed to have originated from France and was known to be isolated to a few people in Kentucky. It was not until the 1960's that scientists and physicians actually performed studies to determine what caused this rare condition. I had never heard about the blue mountain people of Kentucky so I found this very enlightening and interesting.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek's central character was Cussy Mary Carter, also known as "Blueit". Her mama had died several years ago and Cussy Mary lived in the hills with her father, a coal miner. During the 1930's, President Roosevelt and the WPA established the Pack Horse Library Project and brought it to Kentucky. The people of Kentucky that lived in the isolated mountains and hills had few schools and no libraries. Cussy Mary became a librarian with the Pack Horse Library Project. She brought reading material to the people assigned to her. Often the people she brought books and magazines to could not read so Cussy Mary would read to them in the allotted time she had at each person's house. Cussy Mary was required to supply her own transportation. After acquiring a mule from her deceased husband, Cussy Mary traveled from house to house on her mule. She named her mule, Junior. Throughout the story it was evident that Cussy Mary and Junior had a special love for one another. Cussy Mary's visits were often eagerly awaited for by each of her patrons. One of her stops was at a school where she developed a special place in her heart for a boy known as Henry. Henry aspired to become a Librarian just like Cussy Mary. Henry's family was very poor and his Mama had lost several babies in childbirth or in their early lives. There was never enough food in Henry's house and although Henry was all skin and bones he did not hesitate to gift Cussy Mary a sweet that he had won in a spelling contest. It took Cussy Mary all day to go from house to house, to the poorest of people, to bring them a few minutes of joy they found in the books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets and scrapbooks she would lend to them.

Cussy Mary was constantly worried about her father. He was a coal miner and worked long and hard hours every day down in the mines. The job was dangerous and Cussy Mary knew it. All she ever wanted to do was to live with her father and take care of him. Her father was determined to get Cussy Mary married. Not many, if anyone, was interested in marrying Cussy Mary because of her blue color. Her father would put the "courting" candle on the porch and insist that Cussy Mary had to marry. After all, her father had made a promise to her mother before she died to see Cussy Mary settled with a husband to take care of her. The husband her father chose was a mean man. When he forced himself on her the first night of their marriage he died. Cussy Mary became a widow over night. She was fine with her situation. She never wanted to marry in the first place so she came home and picked up the role of taking care of her father again. The only thing she took from her deceased husband was his mule.

Throughout the book the themes of prejudice, courage, family, compassion, racism and love are sprinkled about. Each one of Cussy Mary's patrons became important and special to her. She formed lasting and meaningful relationships with almost every single one of them. She went out her way to find reading materials that would be just right for each patron. She worried about them and felt their happiness and pain. Kim Michele Richardson made you feel as if you were actually on the trails with Cussy Mary. I cried and laughed and simply enjoyed the journey Cussy Mary was on. I learned so much about this time period in the mountains of Kentucky. I always anticipated what would happen to Cussy Mary next. I loved how this book ended. It put a good feeling in my heart.
I would give this book 4.5 stars and recommend it very highly.

I received a complimentary copy of The Book Woman of Troulesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson from the publisher and Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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This was a really quick and easy read. Very interesting to read about the "blue people" of Kentucky, something I knew nothing about. The author writes in a way that really makes you stop and think about people, who might be "different" from the major population, were (and are) treated.
I also enjoyed learning about the pack horse librarians. I loved seeing how much joy the books and other delivered materials brought to the patrons of the Book Woman.

I felt like the ending somewhat dragged on and for that reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to others!

I

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I am often a fan of historical fiction and this one was no exception. I had never read anything that took place in rural Kentucky during the Great Depression and the added element of the blue people added an interesting layer to the story. There were a lot of difficult topics addressed and the issues of the environmental impact of mining as well as labor rights were things I didn't expect to come across in this story. There is a lot for us in 2019 to learn from a story like this, and I hope that other people enjoy it as much as I did. I would highly recommend this to fans of historical fiction and those who are interested in learning more about the blue people of Kentucky. Overall, this was an entirely enjoyable reading experience.

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Life is very hard for the people of Troublesome Creek, Kentucky in the 1930's. Poverty, starvation and dangerous work in the mines keep the spirits of the people as low as possible. The only source of comfort and happiness for many are the books, scrapbooks and periodicals brought by Cussy Mary Carter, the traveling librarian representative of the Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project. Books have always been Cussy's salvation during a life filled with hatred and persecution due to her family's blue tinted skin color. Through kindness and a shared love of reading, Cussy Mary's patrons learn to see the inner strength and beauty of this amazing young woman. From the very beginning of this book, I could tell the extensive research and dedication Kim Michele Richardson invested in one of the best books I've read all year. Although our upbringings and origins couldn't be farther apart, I felt an immediate rapport with Cussy Mary due to our shared love of books. The acute descriptions of the environment, conditions and people trying to survive every day of their hardscrabble lives put me right there beside them. I find that hours after finishing this beautifully written, moving story that I'm still missing the extraordinary characters both good and bad of Troublesome Creek. Worthy of more than five stars, I give this book one of my highest recommendations for all who love books, history and the power of reading.

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The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a wonderful new book from Kim Michele Richardson. It tells the story of Mary Cussy Carter of Troublesome Creek, KY in the 1930's when the Federal government started a Pack Horse Librarian project in Eastern Kentucky. Mary Cussy or "Bluet" as she is called by friends, also happens to be one of the legendary Kentucky blue people.

"Troublesome Creek" explores the rough Appalachian life of rural Eastern Kentucky, the famous Blue People of Kentucky and the Pack Horse Librarian project, part of the New Deal started by Roosevelt and the Works Progress Administration. At the start of the project, up to 31% of Eastern Kentuckians were illiterate and had little to no access to books. We follow Bluet and Junia, her rented mule, up mountains and down into valleys to deliver reading material and even read to patrons all while trying to avoid dangerous animals, weather, moonshiners and other local criminals. The work was exhausting, treacherous and often ridiculed but for Bluet as well as her patrons, it was essential, life giving and often gave respite to some very downtrodden hill people. Just the sign of the Book Woman coming down the trail would bring people out from their homes, gardens and chores for books, magazines, health pamphlets even mail deliveries.

As a Blue person, Bluet wasn't treat kind by any of the townspeople and even some of the hill people. She was considered "colored" and had even fewer rights than her African American friend, Queenie. At the time, there was no known reason for someone being born blue so it was often thought to be a curse from God.

Overall, this is a story of triumph, perseverance, acceptance and love for books. As a Kentuckian and lover of historical fiction, this book was of extra special interest to me and did not disappoint. I learned so much about Kentucky history that I didn't know. If you get the opportunity, please take the time and read Richardsons' The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek...you won't regret it.

TRIGGER WARNING: There is a pretty rough rape scene in the very beginning of this book.

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Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson.

Cussy "Bluet" Carter has a coveted job of a "book lender" in the hollers of Kentucky. With her trusty and protective mule Junior, Bluet rides all over the treacherous terrain to deliver books as well as comfort and company to the suffering residents of her isolated region. But Bluet didn't get her nickname from thin air, she has a rare disorder which makes her skin blue, as well as her father's skin, putting them in the marginalized category of "colored" and justifying their mistreatment, even after they work so hard to serve their community. In this story we learn about all the different personalities in Troublesome Creek, and how Bluet learns to fit in as well as reconciling her unique situation of being blue.

I got a lot out of this story, the history especially. I forget that businesses used to be much more "home delivery/visit based" rather than residents going into town, but it makes sense, especially in such a remote and inhospitable area. Bluet was such a sweet and earnest character and it was so hard to read about the suffering she experienced and witnessed, but also so tender to see how the residents helped each other and made huge sacrifices for the community. Very lovely read.

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I liked this book. I loved cussy mary. She thought that getting those books to her patrons was the most important thing. Even the ones who wanted nothing to do with her. She still made sure they got there books!!! She was strong but not in an in your face kind of way. She still knew she was different and respected the way things were to a degree. Right or wrong. Just like a lot of people who are deemed not normal, whatever normal is, she wanted to be just a regular girl and suffered for the chance to be white instead of blue. Her love of reading was infectious. It took her away from it all. She also was good at helping her patrons get just what they needed to help them a long the way. She had a good friend, a father that loved her, and she found love in her life in two unexpected ways. Then to find out that there was really blue people and a traveling library in Kentucky was amazing.

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This was a very interesting read and very different from my typical reads. I liked the character of Cussy very much and my blood boiled at all of the prejudices she experienced. I loved the idea of the librarians bringing reading material to the folks. That was probably my favorite part of the book. There is a lot of sadness in this book, it’s definitely not a light read. All in all, I am glad I tried this book.

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I was expecting a great story centered around books. I definitely got that! The story was both sweet and heartbreaking. The characters evoked strong emotions: some positive, some negative. I really enjoyed all the layers to the story and how lives intertwined through books. The main plot seemed a little predictable and moved rather slowly at times.

What I didn't expect was to learn so much about the blue people of Kentucky and about the pack horse library, Born and raised in Ohio, I'd never even heard of either before reading this book. I was so intrigued that I did more research about both fascinating parts of American history. For me, learning about these two things (and being interested to learn more) was really the highlight of having read this book.

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