We have a new service at the Watseka Public Library – HOOPLA! (Come and see us to find out more!) I tried Hoopla out this week myself, and really enjoyed The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson. It is the sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, but would be perfectly fine to read on its own without reading the first novel.
The book is set in the 1950’s in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. Honey Lovett is 16 years old when her parents are sent to jail for violating the miscegenation laws of the state. (Cussy is a “blue” woman because of a genetic disorder and her husband, Jackson, is white.) Honey has to adjust to life on her own and keep one step ahead of the sheriff and social worker who plan to send her to a children’s work prison for five years. She gets a job as a packhorse librarian and sets off delivering her books on her mule, Junia. (Junia used to be a pack mule for Honey’s mother, who was also a packhorse librarian.) She encounters several adventures during her route and becomes friends with a fire lookout, a frontier nurse and a coal miner.
The historical aspects of The Book Woman’s Daughter were interesting and I liked the main characters. The author included many different women’s issues from 1950’s Kentucky and I liked the spunk of Honey Lovett. Historical fiction lovers will enjoy this fairly quick read!
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