Summary:
The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.
Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government’s new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.
My take: 4 looks
Two very interesting subject matters, both historically accurate, form the basis of this glimpse of a tiny region of Appalachia during the early 20th century.
The “Blue People of Kentucky”, also known as the “Blue Fugates”, is the first major subject of the story. The Fugates were a family that settled in Kentucky around 1800, and both carried a recessive gene that caused an enzyme deficiency, giving skin a bluish hue. While it was recessive in the two of them, a number of their children, receiving both genes, were blue from birth.
In their tiny community, any difference, especially in appearance, was most unwelcome, and as years passed, the Fugates moved farther and farther into isolation, and resorted to intermarrying, increasing blue descendants.
The other major subject of the story is the formation of Pack Librarians. After the Great Depression, and because of the remoteness of eastern Kentucky, illiteracy was running about 31% in the region. The Pack Horse Library Project was started, and employed women known as “Book Women” for about $28 per month, a king’s ransom for those times, and in that area. Not only did these Book Women deliver books, they also read to families, provided instructional material to schools, and delivered periodicals to get the men and boys interested in literacy.
As you can see, there is quite enough in each of these subjects for a novel, but Richardson merges the two together in main character Cussy Mary Carter. Cussy Mary, also called “Bluet” because of the hue of her skin, is of marrying age, and her father aims to see that done. However, Cussy Mary is perfectly happy with her life as it is, living simply with her father and delivering books to needy families several days a week.
Throw in some superstitious notions of the townsfolk, a few old biddies who have open disdain for “all coloreds”, and some really mean men, and you have a very nice fabric of historical fiction. Richardson writes a compelling story, immediately instilling empathy for the likable characters, who are doing the best they can with the cards they have been dealt; and, likewise, hostility for those characters who are just bad people.
I would be remiss, however, if I failed to mention my favorite character, Cussy Mary’s mule named Junia, after a strong female character in the New Testament. Junia proves to be Cussy Mary’s greatest asset on the trails of her library route, saving her rider from a snake guarding its nest, chasing and biting men out to hurt Cussy Mary, and finally giving her nod of approval to the man seeking Cussy Mary’s hand in marriage (no small feat). Being a mule, people looked down on Junia as stubborn, headstrong, and a mixed breed that was good for very little, sharing these same traits with Cussy Mary, making them the perfect team.
This was a very fast read, enjoyable, and did the thing that I love about books: made me do more study and research on the topics. Books like this one won’t change your life, but they will make you smarter, and for that reason, my thanks to the author.
Highly recommended.
