Book Review: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a fictional work that is based on two aspects of American History.   The first is the blue skinned people of Appalachia and the second is books.    I was fascinated to learn more about a population of people that I had never known existed.  The novel covers the inherent problems of this often-forgotten small community. People afflicted with this genetic disorder were often ostracized by the communities in which they lived.  This made them the object of scorn, ridicule and even abuse.  Many retreated into the mountains to live a life of solitude way from the cruelty.

The protagonist of this novel is herself a blue skinned woman who dreams of more.  She applies to become a packhorse librarian.  The job (also based on historical fact) entailed the packhorse librarian to ride a horse or a mule into the Appalachian Mountains to deliver books to patrons that were unable to otherwise have access to reading material.  Reading material was limited, so these librarians created scrapbooks with information that they gleaned from old magazines and that was given to them by people on their packhorse route.   These scrapbooks contained anything from articles about how to care for infants to recipes. The Scrapbooks that were made by these Librarians would be something that I would love to look at!    Finding enough reading material wasn't the only problem.   The main character is faced with innumerable obstacles and challenges as she carries out her duties, but her love of books and her fellow Appalachian countrymen wins out in the end.

I have nothing but high praise for this book.  It was a fascinating look at two aspects of history that I knew nothing about.  Furthermore, the story was written in such a way that I was drawn into the lives of the fictional characters and became invested in the outcome of the storyline.   Kudos for an amazing read!

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