The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek Book Review
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek book review tells us about the pacing, plot, and characterization in this story. Read more to see if it's worth putting on your bookshelf.
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The Book woman of Troublesome Creek Brief Book Review
Summary
In 1936, a 19-year-old woman, Cussy Mary Carter was born with a blood abnormality that gave her a blue hue on her skin. Along with the small population affected by its shade, she is outcasted in her town surrounded by the Appalachians in Troublesome Creek, Kentucky.
With a need to find security for his blue daughter, Cussy's dad married her to an abusive man who died shortly after they were wed. Relieved and quietly joyful about his death, she returned home to live with her dad and joined the historical Pack Horse Library Project.
Cussy aspired to share the power of prose with people who couldn't access it. She routinely traversed the Appalachians with her trusted mule, and set out to spread knowledge through literature. The librarians gave the hill folk hope, and a path to escape their poverty, even if it was temporary.
But it wasn't easy for Cussy. Apart from the dangerous terrain, she was discriminated against because of her blue skin. With a desire to look like everyone else, she found a temporary cure, but the side effects were detrimental. Our protagonist wrestled with the choice to accept herself, otherwise, it would kill her.
Book Review
My favorite aspect of the story was witnessing people’s love for literature in the town, and the system structured for the librarians to venture from house-to-house giving people books. I loved seeing so many characters excited to read.
“Their hunger for books could teach them of a better life free of the hunger, but without food they'd never live long enough or have the strength to find it.”
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Kim Michele Richardson
Although there were multiple houses Cussy visited, each character was unique and memorable.
Unfortunately, the pacing was jarring; the author created multiple emotional scenes that occurred in back-to-back chapters and then a 100-page stretch where nothing happened. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek was also highly melodramatic.
The initial plot device soured me because it felt unnecessary. Stories wear me out when the introduction is overly dramatized for the sake of shock value. *Trigger warning* Our protagonist was unwillingly married to a man who raped her— it got intense, and then he died…
There was no point for such intensity because it didn’t add to the character, or plot. It just made our main character more of a victim than she already felt.
Besides the melodrama, Kim Michele Richardson made likable characters. I was able to jump into Cussy’s world. And although it took some time to get into the story, once I was there— I was in.
To summarize, don't read this book if you're looking for enchanting literary prose or a grounded story. Pick up this book if you enjoy reading drama, gossip, and despair. Be aware going into this novel that there’s a ton of plot shock and discrimination on almost every single page.
