The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek: A Novel

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!

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.

It was fascinating to read a book written from the viewpoint of a “blue-skinned” person from Appalachia during the Great Depression. I also loved learning about the Pack Horse Library Project. The atmosphere, storyline, characters, and writing were all very well done and I’d definitely recommend this to someone interested in historical fiction!

Half a star removed because the ending seemed weirdly melodramatic – yes the entire book was dramatic, but it seemed a bit forced compared to the rest. Another half because it honestly seems a bit too far-fetched to equate Cussy’s blue skin with being Black or “colored.” I can believe that blue-skinned people did experience prejudice, but I can’t believe people didn’t recognize Cussy as a white woman with a genetic condition.

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.

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.