The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek: A Novel

The bestselling historical fiction from Kim Michele Richardson, this is a novel following Cussy Mary, a packhorse librarian and her quest to bring books to the Appalachian community she loves, perfect for readers of Lee Smith and Lisa Wingate.

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Published May 7, 2019

320 pages

Average rating: 7.94

1,160 RATINGS

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Redding Women's Social Book Club

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Ventura Women's Book Club

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Genres included in our reading:

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Historical Fiction

YA Fiction

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Women's Fiction

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Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek* is a well-researched, touching historical novel highlighting Kentucky’s rare "Blue People" and the b...

mpaetow
Mar 15, 2025
10/10 stars
Great Historical Fiction. Well researched. Wonderful book to reflect on our own bias. Great discussion on prejudices! Highly recommend for anyone who likes historical fiction. Kentucky history that can be used for any history class in any state! Some of Depression Era public works projects I wasn’t aware of!
ReadingBTWines
Dec 29, 2023
10/10 stars
One of the best historical fiction novels I have ever read. It was a heart warming, edge of your seat read that I couldn't put down. I can't wait to read the second book.
Laura
Dec 17, 2025
2/10 stars
Just click on all the one start reviews and you will see why I thought this book was historically inaccurate and inappropriate to compare the blue skinned people with the suffering the African American people endured during this time. The medical discovery (pill to turn skin white) was found in the 1960’s. It was also super slow and all the so called action happened during the last 20 minutes. I loved learning about both the blue skinned people and the book project but there must be better books than this one out there. I know many will not agree but many others with the one star review did not like it for the same reasons. And don’t get me started on Jackson getting arrested on their wedding day. And there was no development of that love story at all. Such poor character development. Narration had to be sped up so I could finish it. Sorry if this offends anyone but I was so looking forward to it when I first started listening but then it just was so boring and anytime something bad happened to Cussy Mary - it was just brushed under the rug.
JShrestha
Nov 17, 2025
7/10 stars
I unfortunately read Giver of Stars prior to the Book Woman of Troublesome Creek which is also based on the same historical packhorse Librarians of Kentucky. As both authors did the research, the stories reflect on the same experiences and occurrences except the other book followed numerous librarians and this book was a sole librarian who happened to also was a Blue person of Kentucky. This particular book was okay as I felt it wasnt as an emotional journey as the Giver of Stars, but thought it was a great book for an easy read to introduce two strong points of Kentucky history.
PK Ferris
Nov 15, 2025
10/10 stars
Illuminating. Stark poverty. The compassion and bravery of Cussy Mary and the power Jackson Lovett’s love for her to find a new life together against a backdrop of intolerance

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