This is why you should read historical fiction! The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek brought me back to a different era in a location relatively unknown to me. It taught me about the pack horse library project, the harsh living conditions for the hill people in Eastern Kentucky under the Great Depression and most of all, about blue people.
It took me a while to settle into the story. In the beginning, everything felt so unfamiliar. The tone of the book kept changing. Some parts were cosy, bordering on sentimental. The protagonist Cussy Mary (one of the last blue people) rides around on an adorable mule with a personality of its own and delivers books to the hill people in some very endearing scenes. Other parts were harsh and brutal and themes like marital rape, suicide, violence, racism and death from starvation are an integrated part of the storyline.
The uneven tone is reflected in the dramatic structure. There are numerous slow, descriptive book delivery scenes, which are lovely, but eventually they became too sameish for me. The drama which interrupted the book delivery scenes felt exceedingly theatrical. I also found some of the characters one-dimensional; either unequivocally good and selfless or bad and filled with hate.
Add to that an audiobook narration described by Grab the Lapels as the most corn-bred hillbilly accent I’ve ever heard, and I was starting to have my doubts.
The problem didn’t lie with the book, but with me as a reader. I realise that the many book deliveries interrupted by the occasional drama might be an accurate description of the life of Cussy Mary and her contemporaries. I can’t rule out either that some people would have exhibited an unfathomably selfless behaviour (if starvation dominated my life I would not have given my rare treats away). And the horrible, hateful people could have had other sides to them, but these sides were never experienced by Cussy Mary.
What I am trying to say is, that the dramatic structure and writing style may be well suited to the time and place, where the story takes place. That I prefer more subtlety and less melodrama in my reading is hardly the fault of the author.
Eventually, I got used to Richardson’s writing and started to enjoy the story. There were many aspects, which I loved. The biggest bonus was all the things I learned. The author has clearly done some thorough research and reading about the lives of the hill people in Kentucky was fascinating. The mystery of the blue people kept me intrigued as well.
The Kentucky library project was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program under Roosevelt, which had books delivered to remote regions in the Appalachian Mountains between 1935 and 1943. Under the depression many people didn’t have access to libraries and with starvation and hardship dominating life in the mountains, the book deliveries meant everything. As a strong supporter of books, knowledge and education, it was heartwarming for me to see the role books played in the lives of the hill people. At the same time it was heartbreaking to see how difficult it was to get access to proper reading material.
Cussy Mary was a strong, feisty protagonist and despite her Mother Theresa tendencies, she did show signs of being human. I can’t begin to think how tough her life must have been and I was rooting for her all the way through. It is well-known that being coloured was hard, but being blue seemed particularly trying. Back then nobody knew what caused the blueness, which added a strong fear factor to the general aversion and discrimination of coloured people.
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a great example of why one should read historical fiction. It is filled with interesting facts and presumably I am not the only reader who googled various topics to learn more. I loved the setting and Cussy Mary and her mule were great characters. Unfortunately, the dramatic style didn’t gel with me, which affected my overall enjoyment. 3 1/2 stars, generously rounded up to 4.
Thanks to JenniferTarHeelReader for recommending this.
Title: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek [2019]
Author: Kim Michele Richardson
Format: Audiobook, narrated by Katie Schorr
Genre: Historical Fiction
Not only did the audio book narrator’s accent drive me insane, I also felt that some parts were really slow and, as you say, dramatic. That part when Cussy’s father keeps telling her to be a woman and stay home and she’s yelling “No, Pa!” and he repeats stuff about a woman’s place and she repeats “No, Pa!” *sigh* Take about an Appalachian telenovela.
Yes, there was perhaps some degree of telenovela over it. I’m glad, I persevered though. After a while I got used to the accent and the dramatic style and started to enjoy it, in particular learning about this part of history! I must admit, the book wasn’t quite what I expected.
Wow! This one seems to tackle some really serious issues! 😱😱 And although I am not really a historical fiction reader, I can see why you stated this one as important in the genre! But I have to agree that one dimensional characters – all black and white – are just too boring to read and I get tired of them really quickly!
Still, amazing and a very detailed review, star! 😍❤️
Yes, it did tackle some serious issues, but it was a strange mix of cuteness and melodrama.The protagonist Cussy Mary, did turn out to have more nuances than first indicated, but some of the other characters were very black and white (in the abstract interpretation…). Thanks!! 😀
😊😊❤️👻
This does sound intriguing though, despite the reservations you have. A time, place and way of life i know nothing about.
It was interesting and don’t let my reservations put you off. It has 4.25 stars on Goodreads and I have seen lots of raving reviews. Like you, I knew nothing about the time and place, which might have contributed to my difficulties getting into the story. As I wrote, everything just felt unfamiliar and the strong accents didn’t help either.
I wonder if you might have enjoyed it more reading it rather than listening? I read this some time back and I thought it was incredible. My only attempts at audio have been disastrous though and I always abandon them for the actual book.
Yes, I’m sure you are right. Normally, I enjoy listening, but in this case I should clearly have picked up the book. I’m glad you found this story incredible and I ended up enjoying it as well. But even in paper-format, I still would have found the dramatic style difficult to get used to.
Aww, yay, you’re welcome! I understand about the drama, too. I just fell so hard for some aspects of the story that emotionally those overtook the things I didn’t like as well. I loved reading your thoughts and am happy you overall enjoyed it. I definitely did my share of googling after, too!
Yes, the positive aspects of the story ended up dominating for me as well, it just took me a while to get there. But I am glad to have read it – in every way it differed from what I normally read and it really opened my eyes for this bit of our history. Not to mention the blue people!
The narrator can make a huge difference, for good or bad. I don’t think this book sounds as if it’s for me but I remember looking up the blue people after reading an earlier review – probably Jennifer’s. I’d never come across their story before – fascinating, as are some of the images of them on the internet, which I couldn’t decide if they had been doctored or not to emphasise the “blueness”.
Yes, the narrator is definitely important. In this case it wasn’t necessarily a bad narration. I am sure the accent was meant to be realistic for the time and place of the story. So perhaps I am being narrow-minded, but I did struggle… There are some pictures of a painting of blue people on the internet, where I suspect the blue colour might have been exaggerated, but there are also some more recent photos, which look fairly authentic to me.
Excellent review and I totally get the dissatisfaction with too much dramatization, which I worry about with this book. I’m still going to read it but it is a concern.
Thanks Jonetta! Judging from Goodreads, I don’t think the drama bothered many readers. So I wouldn’t worry about it. I will look forward to hear your opinion on this book! 🙂