“It was as if Blues weren’t allowed to breathe the very same air their loving God had given them, not worthy of the tiniest spoonful He’d given to the smallest forest critter.”

Cussy Carter has very few loves in her life – her father and her books. It’s not her love of learning that makes her an outcast in her Kentucky community, though. Her skin color sets her apart with its blue tint. She is often treated worse than the “coloreds” in their area as no one understands why her and her father are blue. Going around the people who work at the traveling library, Cussy applies to be a traveling librarian and gets the job, ending up working with people who don’t want “her kind” around, but tolerate her as they really need workers. 

I heard about The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek after reading The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes. Both books are about traveling librarians in Kentucky and there is some talk about possible plagiarism by Moyes from Richardson. That talk piqued my interest and I put The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek to my to-read list. I had to wait a few weeks for the book to become available as an ebook from my local library. 

Cussy’s father wants her daughter to be taken care of so he arranges for her to marry a local man who ends up abusing her. She ends up a widow with a mule who looks after her on her routes. She gives up on the idea of love and focuses on helping the people in her community learn through books. The local doctor, though, finally convinces her and her father to take her to Louisville for some testing and they hope to find a cure that will turn her “white” and the hope of living a normal life takes root in Cussy’s mind.

I really enjoyed reading The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I learned a lot about the blue people of Kentucky. There is just one part of the book that is very similar to Moyes’ book, but it’s an idea anyone could have researching that time period and area. Lovers of good fiction and books will really enjoy this book and The Giver of Stars. The main characters face different challenges and I enjoyed both of them.

Have you ever heard of the blue people of Kentucky? Share what you know in the comments!

Buy The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek here (affiliate link).