The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson is historical fiction telling about the last of the blue-skinned people of Kentucky, particularly Cussy Mary Carter, a pack horse librarian under Roosevelt’s Mobile Library Project. Scraping out a living was hard in Appalachia in the 1930’s and although many people barely had enough to eat and in fact many more died of starvation and watched their children die, they still longed for the books and magazines the women of the Pack Horse Library Project would deliver weekly. Reading materials, including how-to manuals, recipes, etc. became a lifeline for many of these isolated hill folks.

Richardson beautifully portrays life in Kentucky at this time and what it was like to be blue, a rare genetic condition, and the awful prejudice people had against them. Cussy Mary is a real heroine, I wish I could have known her. A highly recommended read.