The Book Woman's Daughter

The Book Woman's Daughter: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek #2

Kim Michele Richardson

Publication date: May 3, 2022 by Sourcebooks Landmark

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 5 👢👢👢👢👢

Summary: Bestselling historical fiction author Kim Michele Richardson is back with the perfect book club read following Honey Mary Angeline Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free.

In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.

Picking up her mother’s old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn’t need anyone telling her how to survive. But the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren’t as keen to let a woman pave her own way.

If Honey wants to bring the freedom books provide to the families who need it most, she’s going to have to fight for her place, and along the way, learn that the extraordinary women who run the hills and hollers can make all the difference in the world.

My Thoughts: In The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek readers were introduced to the character Cussy Mary Carter who represented the blue skinned people of Kentucky and the pack horse librarian program. This second book in the series gives readers the story of her daughter, Honey. 

While Honey doesn't have the blue coloring all over her body like her mother, she does have the gene mutation in her hands and feet. Like her mother Honey suffers from the continued prejudices of the Kentucky culture. Honey is left to fend for herself when the Kentucky law comes down on both of her parents. The law uses her parents actions against her and insists that Honey must be put into a reform school until she is 21 years old. Honey finds escape in work at her mother's old library and learning the value of friendship. 

The struggles that Honey endures is overwhelming for the modern reader. To consider a young 16 year old girl surviving the wilderness on her own is hard to contemplate. However Richardson writes a compelling story that truly embraces both the prejudices and the laws of the Kentucky mountains. Honey represents all the struggles that young women had to encounter in order to free themselves from the old world mentality. 

In addition, the audio recording is phenomenal!