historical fiction
Bluet, from Troublesome Creek, KY, loves her job as a Packhorse Librarian. But her father is hoping to find her a husband so that she has
someone to care for her when he’s gone. However, it’s been tough attracting men
because she has an unusual medical condition that makes her skin (and her
family’s skin) blue. Unfortunately, her skin color makes her the target of many
ill feelings in the small town.
I’d read another book about the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky by Jojo Moyes. The two novels were different stories with many similar
historical topics, which is what I expected. The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson, however, was as much about Bluet’s unusual medical condition as
about the librarians. The protagonists of both novels had to rise above their
town’s negative opinions of them, to navigate relationships, and to survive the
hardships of women traveling alone in dangerous conditions. While I enjoyed the
blue skin storyline and learning about this ailment through excellent research
on the part of the author, she admits at the end of the novel that she fudged
the timeline of the discoveries around the “blue people of Kentucky” in order
to fit into the Packhorse Librarian historical timeline. That bugs me. The blue people were not
treated until decades later in reality.
Richardson does not shy away from harming her characters.
There were several instances where I felt the misdeeds done to Bluet were
gratuitous and unnecessarily brutal. In fact, the novel is melodramatic
overall. Bluet was well-drawn--her personality and kind heart shone through. I enjoyed her story and wanted to know how
things would turn out. I wasn’t ready for the ending but it was true to the
history.
The audiobook is narrated by Katie Schorr and she did a
great job with voice acting. However, her voice repertoire is small. I’ll give her a B+.
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