The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Outstanding historical fiction!

I wanted to read this book as although I’ve seen photographs of pack horse librarians on Facebook many times over the years I didn’t know anything of their history.

Against incredible odds every day…Cussy Mary Carter is an extraordinary young woman giving her all as daughter to Thomas Carter and especially as one of the librarians of The Kentucky Pack Horse program that was implemented in 1935, by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to create women’s work programs and to assist economic recovery and build literacy as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Acts.

Cussy is nicknamed "Bluet" or simply called "Book Woman" by most of her patrons along her route. She faced treacherous show more conditions daily due to weather, terrain, animals such as snakes on the path, and the evil of man sometimes lurking along isolated parts of the forest landscape. Cussy’s transportation is either an old mule she named "Junia" or simply to walk next to her mule on the sections of route too steep to safely ride.

Understanding the joy Cussy’s mother had given to her through books Cussy now endeavors with tenacity and grit to bring that same joy, that same comfort, that same uplifting experience to her patrons. After one period of time when Cussy was unable to work she said, "Being able to return to the books was a sanctuary for my heart. And a joy bolted free, lessening my own grievances, forgiving spent youth and dying dreams lost to a hard life, the hard land, and to folks’ hard thoughts and partialities."

At times there were tears running down my face and so many times I wanted to rush into the pages and hug Cussy. I surely wanted to reach in between the pages and give that dear old mule Junia as many apples as she wanted to eat for the rest of her life for all of the times her instincts alerted Cussy to danger, protected Cussy from danger, or at the very least tried her very best to keep Cussy safe from all harm whether from nature, animals, or mankind.

This book is outstanding as it combines the author’s meticulous research with her passion to humanize and bring understanding to the blue-skinned people of Kentucky and recognize and highlight the dedication and commitment of the Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians all with atmospheric and literary storytelling and compelling narrative. show less

One of my favorite reads this year, so far. Shining a bright light on a dark era of Kentucky history in the 1930's, this novel tells a fictionalized story based on true events that I found enlightening and moving, to the point of tears several times.

As part of the New Deal in the 1930's, the Kentucky government employed some women to deliver books and other reading material by pack horse or mule to people who lived very distant from their towns. These pack horse librarians were mainly admired and welcomed, but also treated with reservation by some of the secluded families who lived separated from the rest of their communities. The author created a character, Cussy Mary Carter, who was one of the pack horse librarians and also a "Blue" - show more based on an actual Kentucky family who had a medical condition that caused their skin to be tinged with the color blue.

It is an incredible story, with a gentle and sympathetic main character who just stole my heart. It is also a hard read at times because of how the Blues and some of the other characters in the novel were treated by the white community.

The author has done an incredible job of giving a voice to both the Blues and the brave and fierce pack horse librarians who rode into the mountains, at great risk to their lives, to deliver books, magazines, scrapbooks and even food to the poverty-stricken people of that time. I hope everyone loves it as much as I did. As I turned the last page I found myself wanting to be more a more kind, compassionate, tolerant and charitable "Book Woman" myself. Really well done. show less

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
Rating: 5 stars

Not very often do I come upon a book that I truly care so much about, as I do this one. The heroine Cussy Mary Carter is a poor, lonely, "colored" young woman who is a Packhorse Librarian which is part of Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project in Troublesome Creek, Kentucky. When I say colored, you might think brown, but in Cussy Mary and her family's experience, it would be lovely to be a brown-skinned person. No, Cussy Mary and her family are Blues. They have a rare blood condition that causes them to have various shades of blue skin. Cussy Mary's skin is a dark, deep indigo blue color. Her color is such that the local doctor who delivered her when show more she was born, nicknamed her "Bluet." She doesn't mind the name, doesn't necessarily like it, but it's better than other names she has been called.

Cussy Mary loves her job as a packhorse librarian, the women officials who work at the Library Center are prejudiced against her and most of the other women working there, doesn't matter if you are brown, blue or simply just tall, they always have something snide to say to you or about you. Cussy Mary doesn't have to be around them much, she spends most of her time delivering books and magazines to her library patrons and caring for her Pa who is also a Blue like herself. Her pa works in a Kentucky coal mine, where all of the coal dust makes one man look just like all the other miners. But it's hard work and hard to keep body and home clean of all the coal dust.

The people in and around Troublesome Creek mostly tolerate Cussy Mary as their packhorse librarian, willing to accept mostly anything to get the coveted reading materials. Cussy Mary tries to give everyone a smile, even when she doesn't feel like it.

The book introduces you to some of Cussy Mary's book patrons such as Henry, the adorable little boy who loves Peter Pan; Miss Loretta, who is mostly blind, who doesn't read anything she's given, but she enjoys the "Book Woman" reading to her from the Holy Bible; Devil John, a moonshiner who has specific requests from the "Book Woman"; Angeline Moffit, a sixteen-year-old bride; Jackson Lovett, a charming young man who has traveled and worked out West for a time but is now at home, working on his homeplace. Each is a very interesting person, making you fall in love with almost everyone in the book. You learn to love who Cussy Mary loves and cares about.

This book will possibly make you cry, you may want to read it repeatedly as I did during the three weeks that I had it checked out. I know now, that I must have a copy of this book for my very own. Highly recommend.
I have purchased my own copy of #thebookwomanoftroublesomecreek . It will have an important place on my Favorite's shelves, for all of time. show less

The fictional story of Cussy Mary Carter, one of the "blue people" of Kentucky, and also one of the tough, resourceful women who rode horses and mules into the hills and hollers of rugged mining country to deliver books, magazines, newspapers and government pamphlets to isolated hill folk through FDR's WPA program, The Pack Horse Library Project. Unfortunately, the author has taken what I consider too much liberty with the time frame (a license she openly admits to in the Author's note at the end) and some of the facts associated with research into the causes and potential cures for congenital methemoglobinemia, a condition that imparts a blue hue to the bodies of its victims. The Pack Horse Library Project ended in 1943, and the show more relevant events of this novel do not extend past 1936. Published research and proven treatments for the condition were not available until the early 1960s, yet the author has a local doctor in the novel pestering Mary's family for years to allow him to take blood and skin samples, and then more or less blackmailing her father into agreeing to make her a test subject against her will, ultimately offering her a "cure", based on his reading of that research, that temporarily took away the blue but not the social taint of being "colored". I think this element of the story was unnecessary and distracting. Mary's experiences as a Pack Horse librarian, and her personal struggle with the ostracism of being blue were material enough for a better story than this one turned out to be. Maybe if I hadn't known that it was historically inaccurate I'd have liked it more, but I can think of so many Appalachian writers who might have made me love it. show less

Cussy Mary Carter is a Blue, a member of a family in extremely rural 1930s Kentucky that has an inherited genetic disorder causing blue skin. She lives with her father, a miner, and has a job as a Pack Horse Librarian - a federal program that pays local residents to share donated books, magazines, and newspapers among remote homes. Cussy is ostracized from the rural society, with some people thinking her color is a contagious disease, it is a sign of the devil and she needs to be “saved”, or associating her with “colored” (i.e. Black) people. Life in the mountains, in extreme poverty, is very hard, but the joy that she can bring people with a novel or magazine or pie recipe pasted in a scrapbook are worth it.

The true stories show more behind this fictional one are fascinating. The Blue Fugates of Kentucky were a real family, descended from a real French immigrant in 1820, who carried a real gene that really made their skin blue. The Pack Horse Librarian Program was a New Deal project which really employed women to deliver materials and read to rural people. There is no evidence that any of the Blue Fugates were Pack Horse Librarians. The details of Cussy’s father’s life as a miner were accurate and detailed - the mining company paid the workers in chits that could only be spent at the Company store, thus keeping them in debt, and was constantly threatening to pack up and leave (as one of the few employers in the area). Pa suffers from black lung disease, tries to organize a union with his fellow miners, is forced to take on the most dangerous tasks due to his blue skin, and eventually dies in a collapse. There is no doubt that the blue people of Kentucky suffered real discrimination, isolation, and violence. However, the book (in Cussy’s first person perspective) frequently asserts that the lives of blue people are equal to or harder than those of Black people. The one Black character in the town is another librarian who moves to Philadelphia, leaving Cussy jealous: “Maybe there was opportunity and blessings for her color, but I’d never once seen one for mine.” and Cussy constantly mentions the “No Coloreds” signs which she knows refer to her. In the end, her happily-ever-after is semi-thwarted by anti-miscegenation law, without any concern for who else the law might affect. It’s not clear if the reader is to believe that Cussy believes these things are true, or if the author does. I’d cautiously recommend the book if you’re interested in the real-life subjects, but I wish there was a better book about them. show less

If you've never heard of the Kentucky Blue People, please look it up right now. Fascinating! Book Woman exposes the persecution they faced in the early 20th C. revealing that they were considered "coloreds" even when medical science proved it was a curable condition. Sadly, the themes of "othering" so strikingly illustrated by Richardson, still plague us today. Another fascinating topic is the Kentucky Library Pack Horse project which delivered books to the coves of rural Kentucky encouraging literacy in an underserved population.

Cussy Mary is one of the blue Carters, a Kentucky family with blue skin. Cussy Mary and her father, a coal miner, receive the same treatment as African Americans since they’re not white. Cussy Mary’s mother died a few months before the story begins. Mining is taking a toll on her father’s lungs, and he wants to see his daughter married before he dies so that he knows she’ll be taken care of. Cussy Mary has a different idea. She has a job as a pack horse librarian for the WPA, delivering books and other reading material to folk in the hills and hollows of the Kentucky backwoods. As the story progresses, readers get to know the patrons on Cussy Mary’s route and share her joys and heartaches as hunger and despair steal the weak show more and vulnerable among them. Cussy Mary is wise for her years, and she has a generous heart that hasn’t been broken by the ill treatment she receives from so many.

This book reminded me of one of my all-time favorite books, Catherine Marshall’s Christy. Both books are about young women fighting against ignorance and prejudice to provide educational opportunities for the poor of Appalachia. The audiobook is beautifully narrated by Katie Schorr, who gets the Appalachian accent just right. And if you’re wondering, Troublesome Creek is a real place, the Pack Horse Library Project was a real WPA project during the depression, and there really was a blue-skinned family in this part of Kentucky. show less