When I started THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK by Kim Michele Richardson, I wasn't sure that I was going to enjoy it. I felt a little "underwhelmed" by both the author's writing and the narrator as I listened to the audiobook version of the story. However, before I was more than three chapters into the book, I realized that both the author and the narrator were painting a good picture with their words of the story's protagonist and the writing style was intentional. From that point, I was fully engaged with the main character and found her to be believable and lovable. In addition, the author had a nice plot twist at the end that took me off guard and kept me focused until the end of the book.
Cussy Carter, also known as Bluet and Book Woman, worked as a traveling librarian with the Pack Horse Library Project funded by the federal WPA program (Works Progress Administration) under the Franklin D Roosevelt administration. Life in the mountains of Kentucky was difficult for all of its inhabitants but Cussy and her father experienced additional hardships. They were believed to be the last known survivors of a yet to be discovered genetic condition called methemoglobinemia, a condition which created a shortage of oxygen in the blood. This condition was manifested externally by blue tinged skin. Scorned, rejected, and treated as any other "person of color" at the time, Cussy found purpose in her position as a travelling librarian and solace in her books.
In my opinion, when a historical fiction brings the reader to the end of the story and the reader is eager to learn more about the subjects that have been introduced, the author and book have been successful. THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK left me thinking about the story well past the end of the book and eager to learn more about the subject matter.
I gave the book three stars out of five on Goodreads. I accessed the book through Libby in the audio version.