The Librarian's Journey
by Patty Smith Hall, Cynthia Hickey, Marilyn Turk, Kathleen Y'Barbo
Pub Date: October 1, 2021
Barbour Fiction

Being a librarian I am a sucker for good stories about packhorse librarians. Thanks to Barbour Fiction and Netgalley for the ARC. I found this to be a wonderful collection of stories!
I enjoyed that the short stories were of great length to read in one sitting.

I highly recommend this book.

5 star

This is a great book if you like short stories! There are four stories and each one is a delight to read! All are clean and terrific stories of different pack-horse librarians that overcome various troubles in their journeys. Great reading!

Thanks to FDR's Pack Horse Library Initiative during the Great Depression, women had the opportunity to work for $28 a month delivering books to rural communities. The four stories in this collection were eye-opening and provided a look into a time when times were bleak, 1 in 4 people were jobless, and few women had the chance to work outside the home. Although all four stories are about traveling women librarians, they each brought to the table different bits of information about the WPA program and different experiences had by the heroines of the stories.

Love's Turning Page by Cynthia Hickey

What happens when two people, who adamantly claim they have no interest in getting married, are thrown together by their passion in caring for mountain people? Grace is a spitfire who dreams of being a career-woman and balks at marriage the more she's pushed towards it. Anthony is set on his new career as a schoolteacher and no, he isn't totally Mr. Perfect; his archaic ideas about women being homemakers is a sore topic between the both of them.

This story is set in the Ozarks rather than the Appalachia where most of FDA's program was carried out, but you'd barely notice the difference in scenery. Whenever I think of the Appalachians, I think of moonshine and poverty, two elements that are present in Love's Turning Page. The only thing missing is Ozark English, a dialect present in the Ozark region, akin to Appalachian English, which is present in the Appalachians.

Although Love's Turning Page is a short story, the plot isn't rushed. Significant details pertaining to life in 1936 are included; I could imagine someone in 1936 winning a glass bottle of Coca-Cola in a three-legged race or eating chipped beef toast for dinner. However, these details are not overly-done nor do they get in the way of the storyline.

There's also sociological insight given regarding family life during the Great Depression. Prior to reading this story, I knew textbook facts about the Great Depression, but I never thought much about how it affected marriages or family dynamics. There are a few mentions in Love's Turning Page about how some family men left their wives and homes either to look for jobs elsewhere or because they were too embarrassed about not being able to provide for the family any longer (the story called it a 'poor man's divorce').The history buff in me savored these gleanings from the reading.

I've seen the name Hickory Hollow used in other books, but as always, it makes me think of a sleepy, quaint town where families cooked simple but delicious dishes and everyone knows everyone else's name. The Hickory Hollow in Love's Turning Page was the same in that aspect.

The one odd thing in this story were the repeat names. It's a little hard to scroll back to previous pages in an e-ARC, but I'm almost positive there are a couple repeat names: Hank and Mabel. I thought it was a little unusual of the author to reuse names for different characters even though they had vastly different personalities. It didn't affect the plot, but it was a tad bit strange.

In This Moment by Patty Smith Hall

This story is set in Georgia, and a few of the characters are friends of President Roosevelt. Cotton farms are mentioned and there's also a nod given to Roosevelt's polio condition. I was surprised by a brief mention of the famed Varsity restaurant in Atlanta. And since the setting is 1936, we also have the token mention of the female lead being told a woman's place is in a home.

My favorite scene was Ruthie and Will driving in his Model T. I imagined her wearing a dress, him wearing a suit, and both of them speaking in the twang we hear in old Hollywood movies. I also thought it was interesting how she only has to work 2 days a week, which kind of made sense because this story's library initiative isn't part of the official Roosevelt program.

Unfortunately, that's as far good as it gets because I had a very hard time liking the female main character, Ruthie. She's a nurse and with her masquerading as a librarian, the entire story seems more suited in a collection titled, 'The Nurse's Journey.' There was nothing "librarian" about her; her first instinct wasn't to read books to the children in the homes they visited, but to perform health check-ups on their occupants on the sly.

Not only that, she also often came across as judgmental, a know-it-all, and short-tempered. I love reading about spunky characters, but there is a huge difference between a spunky character and an irritable, b-word-that-shall-not-be-used character. Sometimes, books tend to reduce female main characters to hot-headed, closed-up people, and this story did just that. I was greatly disappointed. I want to read a story about a strong character who has faults just like any other human, but stories that play up the irrational woman trope aren't stories that I reread.

There were also double standards in the plot. The story highlighted the importance of nurses keeping patients' information confidential. And oh, how Ruthie fought to keep her patient's health needs confidential. But, even though she couldn't, wouldn't disclose to Will, her ex-boyfriend (also the town's schoolteacher and the real librarian in the story), the health problem another character had, she had no qualms telling her dad what the gist of the problem was a few hours later. And even though she self-righteously preaches about patient confidentiality, she gets miffed when she discovers Will didn't tell her about his mother's health problem.

Book Lady of the Bayou by Marilyn Turk

This story is set in Mississippi, and there are swamps and (former) cotton fields galore. Lily Bee loves books and works as a book restorer before she becomes the town's traveling librarian. Reading about her duties as a book restorer brought back memories of my summer job working in the university library. Like Lily Bee, I also had to repair books and I could identify with her sense of fulfillment after fixing a well-read book.

Her passion for reading is clear in the way she gets tingles just thinking about bringing books to people who don't have them. And in all honesty, she has got to really love books if she's putting up with traveling through a bayou that's home for alligators and other swampy creatures (including the mysterious Hoodoo creature that can't count to thirteen). The story has its comedic relief moments and I found myself chuckling while making my way through the chapters.

The diversity of the story's characters stuck out. All of them are so friendly and open, to the point of being gossipy. There are a few black characters, a cat called Mozart and of course, Lily Bee's love interest, Lamar, with the disheveled appearance, and his Shirley Temple-lookalike daughter, Evie. There are also bayou people who live in stilt houses and eat frog legs.

There are a couple social commentary points of note. It was interesting and sad to read how even back then, lumber companies were already destroying the ecosystem with careless logging or how cotton plantations wore out the ground by not rotating crops.

While reading all that made me feel angst, I had to smile when I read titles of books I read growing up, like Little Women or my all-time favorite, Anne of Green Gables. The one part that did not make me smile was Joseph's comment about how dressing immodestly causes men to fall in sin. I had to pause and wonder if that comment was a reflection of the thought back then or if it was the author's voice coming into play.

There was also something else that made me wonder if it reflected behavior back then. Maude, the black housekeeper in Lamar's family plantation house, always stays at the door of whichever family room Lamar and Evie are in, rather than joining them in the room. Even in regency novels, servants, particularly nannies, don't stand at the doorway but stand closer to their young charges.

My favorite quote comes from Miss Ida, the town's librarian: "(books are) educational food to feed their minds." I thought that quite neatly summed up what should have been the mission statement of workers in the Pack Horse Library Initiative. When one doesn't have the resources to provide food or clothes for others, bringing joy into their lives through books and education is an alternative.

The Librarian and the Lawman by Kathleen Y'Barbo

This story is set in West Virginia and Kentucky. Unlike the other 3 stories, this story has a strong mystery element. The mystery begins right from the first couple pages when it's hinted that something happened to Charlotte Rose's family when she was 12 years old. When the story opens in 1925, Charlotte, known as Lottie, is 15 years old and her beau, Clay, is 17 years old. A couple chapters later, it's 1936 and both of them are living separate lives after their budding relationship was thwarted by her father 11 years earlier.

I found it odd that it took Lottie's parents more than a decade to tell their adult daughter what happened when she was 12. Sure, I could understand not telling her when she was 15 and still growing up, but to belligerently hold on to it and intentionally live lives of fear for years and years? Even when she was told the secret, it was her mom who caved and revealed what it was after Lottie pleaded to know. Lottie's father, like most of the other men in the story, was an authoritarian figure living a life of cowardice.

The male characters in The Librarian and the Lawman left much to be desired. They were all quite frustrating to read about, from her dad who thinks his adult daughter incapable of handling the truth about their past, to Chester from the post office who refuses to acknowledge the dangers of her delivery route, to the sheriff who doesn't offer to ride with her on a dangerous trip, to Stanton from the FBI who hard-headedly doesn't want to consider advice from those working for him.

Infuriating characters aside, I enjoyed the mystery and suspense in the story. While the other books in The Librarian's Journey focused a lot on the book delivery aspect, this story was mainly about the good guys trying to catch the FBI's target. However, after chapters of waiting for a grand resolution, I was rather disappointed when the resolution was a mere whimper rather than the anticipated bang.

There were a couple of factual discrepancies in the story. First, when the story moved to 1936, it's written that Lottie just celebrated her 24th birthday. I was a little confused and double-checked the dates. If she was 15 in 1925, she'd be 26 in 1936. Second, towards the end of the story, Lottie tells Myrtle that she has the latter's jar of honey and will give it to her later. A dozen pages earlier, it was noted that Lottie placed Myrtle's jar of honey in the drop-off location, a tree stump.

Although the mystery was central in this book, the author still manages to weave in nuggets of information about packhorse librarians, such as how some of them created scrapbooks for their patrons when there weren't enough books for everyone or how some of these women doubled up as mail carriers as well.

The four young heroines in this 4-novella Christian historical romance collection embark on careers as backpack librarians in an era when women were expected to marry and raise children. Drawing upon the Works Project Administration's depression-era Pack Horse Library initiative, the stories feature women of faith, courage, determination, and kindness. As the stories unfold, each librarian delivers more than reading material to the rural patrons she serves. She delivers hope.

I’m not a big fan of romance, even Christian romance, but I really enjoyed this book. Well-developed, likeable characters drove each story. The Pack Horse Library initiative was new to me, and I enjoyed getting a sense of the challenges the women librarians faced. Though I liked all four stories, the last novella in the collection, "The Librarian and the Lawman" was my personal favorite--a little suspense kept me reading until well past my usual bedtime!

The Librarian’s Journey is a well written collection of historical novellas. I enjoyed each selection. They each have similar plots about a librarian on horseback. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

I have read other novels regarding the pack horse librarians. It is one of my favorite and most interesting topics. This book is a nice collection of four short stories regarding this subject. As is often the case I enjoyed them all but one more than the others. Each of these authors are very talented writers. I would highly recommend The Librarian's Journey if you enjoy historical romantic fiction. I would like to thank Barbour Books and NetGalleys for allowing me to read and review this great book. The opinions in my review are all my own.

The Librarian’s Journey is a compilation of four short stories featuring pack horse librarians. They deliver books back in the mountains where many do not have access to libraries following the depression.
Love’s Turning Page by Cynthia Hickey is set in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas in 1935. Jobs are still very scare and Grace Billings needs to help her family. She is an avid reader and visits the library regularly. Can it really lead a job for her? She meets the new teacher, Mr. Anthony Lawrence, and agrees to help him reach out to the families in the mountains. As they work together will a relationship neither expected develop?
For Such a Time by Patty Smith Hall is next with a story set in Pine Mountain, Georgia in 1936. Ruth Sims loved riding but will riding all day in the mountains be too much? She has returned to her home town after losing her nursing job in Atlanta and accepted the position as a pack horse librarian. She takes the job then find out her lost love is the one who will be training her. She soon learns her nursing skills may be needed right here in Pine Mountain but will she stay when offered a lucrative position in Atlanta? Will she and Will work out their differences and become friends again or more?
Book Lady of the Bayou by Marilyn Turk is set in Cypress, Mississippi in 1935. Lilly Bee works part time at the library mostly repairing books that are returned with some damage and keeping things neat. When the library gets the notice that the Works Project Administration is offering a position for a full-time pack horse librarian the head librarian thinks of Lilly first of all. Lilly takes the position and gets to know the Bayou people as she delivers books each week. She stops at each house she can, even those who may not be thrilled to see her such as recluse, Lamar Stewart. His daughter, Evie, on the other hand is glad to see Lilly. As Lilly brings books and visits with Evie and house keeper, Maude, Lamar’s heart softens a bit. When a hurricane strikes and Lilly might be caught in it he does all he can to find her. Then he finds himself helping the others in the community clean up and repair. Has he realized he and Evie may be ready to join the community instead of living in isolation?
The Librarian and the Lawman by Kathleen Y’Barbo is the story of love lost and maybe found again. It is set in Kenova, West Virginia in the year 1925. Family secrets must be kept by Lottie to keep her and her family safe. They moved to Kenova from Kentucky and share very little of their background with anyone. Are they hiding from the law? Is someone else trying to find them? Clay Turnbull has always wanted to avoid working in the mines and has promised his mother he never will after the death of his father. Throughout the school years he has enjoyed teasing Lottie. When she is 15 and he 17 he tell her he really cares for her and wants to court her. He father is not happy with this development but finally agrees with the promise they will never leave Kenova. That will mean breaking his promise to his mother. What will he choose? Law enforcement in Kentucky or the mines in West Virginia? After some misunderstandings he chooses Kentucky and life goes on for Lottie. Eventually she is offered a pack horse position in Kentucky and after much reluctance her father agrees she may accept it. When Clay shows up on an undercover investigation, he finds Lottie may be the key to unlocking the crime ring. Can he let her risk her life to help? Will they be able to talk through what happened years ago and find love again?
These stories are all great Christian reads that all readers of Christian fiction will enjoy. They intertwin the history of the depression and the work of the WPA along with fictional characters to create stories that you will not want to put down. I give this book 5 of 5 stars as it is well written and each story shows compassion for others along with doing an every day job.
I received an advance copy if this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve always been completely fascinated with stories about the mounted librarians it’s such a romantic and heartfelt period of history that I would’ve never known about otherwise. This is an omnibus of four novellas, each about a strong brave woman taking on the role of mounted librarian for the good of her community. Written across different locations and time periods, A Librarian’s Journey is a sweet and sincere book with Christian overtones that are not too forceful. The first story was my favourite, I loved how feisty the women were and each and every story in the collection is sweet and beautifully written.

The Librarians Journey was an enjoyable Sunday afternoon read. I particularly appreciated learning about the history behind this initiative. It was of great interest to learn of American President Roosevelt's concern for the people in Appalachia who had no access to reading materials during the depression years. Through his Works Progress Administration, these packhorse librarians provided books to families in the rural, mountainous areas, providing them a much-needed income.

Each of the four romantic tales told was enjoyable, though I found the Book Lady of the Bayou, The Librarian and the Lawman particularly pleasing. I recommend this collection of novellas to anyone interested in American history and one of the first "bookmobile." My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC for this honest review.

Four novellas feature packhorse librarians taking books to mountain folk during the Great Depression. Grace Billings was relieved to get a job so she can help her. The new school teacher, Antony Lawrence, didn’t approve of women taking on the job.
Ruth lost her nursing job when the hospital laid off staff. She took the horseback librarian job in her former home, Pine Mountain, because nothing else is available. Paired with her former fiancé Will, she was more interested in assessing people’s health than sharing books.
Lily Bee delivered books to her community in Alabama. At a mansion that had seen better days, she met Evie, a young girl who delighted in receiving children’s books. Her widowed father was a reclusive concert pianist trying to find his way in life. A hurricane brings him out of his shell.
Charlotte wants a library job because it will pay her to read. Apparently, Charlotte and her parents are in a sort of witness protection program with the FBI. When she was 15, she thought she was in love with Clayton. Now, she’s assigned to the town where a criminal from her past lives, and Clayton is an undercover agent.
As a former librarian, I was disappointed that Ruth takes the library job only because she can’t find anything else and is eager to find another nursing job. Because these are novellas, they’re short and wrap up quickly. I would especially have liked a fuller story for Lily Bee.

Love's Turning Page - 2 stars
I wanted to like this little story, but I found that it was very predictable. Also, I understand that Grace and the schoolteacher will eventually get together, but the drama between them was mostly because Grace was being overdramatic and proud. I know in this time period that there was stigma associated with women working, but to have Grace and the schoolteacher fight every time it came up? I mean, the conflict only ended because the teacher finally learned to keep his mouth shut, not because Grace actually proved that she could handle herself.

For Such a Time - 3 stars and Book Lady of the Bayou - 3 stars
I admit that I skimmed these. The main characters were mostly forgettable and from what I gathered, any drama or conflict was mostly dramatic misunderstandings and pride. Definitely played out a lot more than I would have liked.

The Librarian and the Lawman - 3.5/4 stars
I found this last story to be the best of the bunch. While the first few chapters were annoying, once the time shifted forward seven years, I can see why Y'Barbo put down that foundation. It made more sense for the reader to experience the original history with Lottie and Clay than for us to be told. I like the use of the packhorse librarian in a different way and how there's a connection with something going on currently and something to Lottie's past. I don't quite understand why the FBI director was so adamant that Clay stay away from Lottie--it felt really like something contrived to keep them apart longer.

I am a sucker for any story that talks about packhorse librarians. Blame it on my eastern Kentucky roots or my love of reading, but I will almost always want to read a book about these courageous people of our history. These four offerings all take place in different settings, which was fun!

“Love’s Turning Page” tells the story of Grace and Anthony. I loved how each caused the other to grow throughout the story, stretching their perspectives.

“In This Moment” tells Ruth and Will’s story, which was lovely. I enjoyed their interactions with each other as well as with the community. The shared history made for such a sweet story.

“Book Lady of the Bayou” is Lily Bee and Lamar’s story. I low-key loved this pairing AND this setting. Perhaps because I had just finished another book I loved that was set in Louisiana and my heart hadn’t quite left yet, but I wanted SO MUCH MORE of this story. I needed a full-length novel. I enjoyed what I was given, but man. I would have loved a slow, sweet development between Lamar and Lily Bee. I really enjoyed these characters and wanted to know more about them, especially Lamar and Evie and Maude and Mary and Joseph and the bayou people. There was just so much there to dive into and I felt a little robbed because we weren’t given the time to develop much depth. But this one was my favorite of the novellas for that very reason! It made me want more from the story.

“The Lawman and the Librarian” tells of Clay and Lottie’s story. I loved the setting and the idea of this novella. There was also a plot twist that I did not see coming, but I greatly appreciated!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed these stories! I recommend them for anyone who is fascinated by packhorse librarians or who enjoys shorter works of historical fiction.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All expressed opinions belong to me.

Enjoyable stories about the horseback librarians who delivered books in Appalachia during the depression. Each of these stories highlighted a "book woman" as she traveled delivering books and sometimes teaching the mountain people to read. These courageous women are to be applauded. Recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction.

This was a nice collection of short stories. All dealing with books and libraries. Like any collection of short stories some were more interesting and I wasn’t quite ready for them to end. It was an enjoyable book.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I'm always interested in stories about the packhorse librarians, so this book appealed to me immediately. I thought it was a book of short stories, but actually there are four novellas with 12 or more chapters in each. The stories are interesting and well written. Even though they're fairly short, there is good character development and an exciting plot in each novella. I also appreciate the faith lessons that are woven in. They are good, clean stories and I will look for more books by these authors.

Love's Turning Page by Cynthia Hickey.

To say I enjoyed this this book would be an understatement. I loved every bit of it. The author did an amazing job. The story further strengthen the fact that books are an amazing way to living life. I loved how Grace and Anthony used books to change people's lives and open them up to endless opportunities.

For Such A Time by Patty Smith Hall.

This was a delight!

Love lost and love found again. Will and Ruthie's story was touching. I loved the restoration I read about and how books transform lives.

Book Lady Of The Bayou by Marilyn Turk

Lily Bee brought light into the lives of people through the books she took to them. Her's and Lamar's love story was a classic. They were brought together by the power of books of love of God that always prevails.

The Librarian And The Lawman by Kathleen Y'Barbo.

Exciting mystery and intrigue in this one. I liked how Lottie and Clay got to be together. Beautiful story.


Wonderful, heartwarming and inspiring stories.

I received a copy of this book and this is my honest opinion.

Three sweet, very quick stories about packhorse librarians in inventive locations, along with one more mysterious selection set in the more traditional setting for the WPA program. The first three were a little on the too quick and predictable side for me, but the last one had a little more spice and vigor that made it a great way to end this collection!
I would have to say Love’s Turning Page had the sweetest romance. It was also the most descriptive of the Great Depression. It would’ve made a great full-length novel.
In This Moment had some very interesting characters. I liked the angle of using the packhorse librarian position to show Ruth, a nurse, how she could help her community. Wrapped up too quickly, another 20 pages would’ve done wonders here.
Book Lady of the Bayou really focused on the job part, and the secondary characters are delicious! I loved Joseph and Mary. The only drawback is that because of those things, the romance was crazy rushed and contrived, even though the main characters were both great.
The Lawman and the Librarian was a fun change! I loved the premise! I do wish the intrigue was a tad more fleshed out, I got confused once or twice. I liked it though, I wanted to read it through from the moment I started.

After fleshing out my thoughts, I think I could’ve enjoyed all these stories a lot more if the authors had each been given just a couple extra chapters. I usually can give a lot of leeway to novellas with rushing and cramming, but it was a little much in these.

I enjoyed reading this book. Novella's about packhorse Librarian's. Each book tells its story about their journey as they made the trails delivering books to the mountain people who did not get to the library. This is a great historical Fiction book telling the story that FDR set up as WPA programs. Thanks NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for allowing me to read this great 4 Novella's.

Traveling through rough terrain, encountering all types of people: friendly, lonely, courageous, and even some unscrupulous, these women librarians’ stories show how extraordinary they were. Each novella was unique in showing strong, wonderful women who saw a need beyond themselves. They combined their love for books and people to risk their own safety to help those they served. I enjoyed the relational element that each story told of the people the librarians befriended and the men who came to love them. After reading these interesting novellas I thought it would have been an amazing job and ministry for those rural librarians who served during the Great Depression.

The story that I liked the most was Book Lady of the Bayou. Lily Bee helps bring the reclusive widower Lamar Davis back to life, much like the story of the Velveteen Rabbit that Lily Bee gives to his daughter, Evie. This is a sweet, tender love story that gives the gift of hope where it was desperately needed.

I enjoyed the collection of novellas. I recommend reading this if you like wholesome and uplifting Christian stories similar to Christy by Catherine Marshall. Thank you to NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for an advanced reader’s copy; a positive review was not required.

This collection of four stories was an enjoyable read. It held my attention and the stories were well developed. If you are looking for historical fiction that reflects what really happened when librarians on horse back were a reality, then there will be things that may grate against your knowledge. If you are looking for stories that are loosely inspired by that time period then you will enjoy reading sweet tales from well known Christian authors.