Bonus Book: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

This month’s bonus book is the historical fiction novel The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson (309 pages).

How to Find Us:
I’ll arrive at Grouchy John’s Coffee at 9:30am to save seats. Go through the hallway next to the order counter. There’s a study room and we’ll sit at the big round table.

From Goodreads:

In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry.

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.

Note: the book is a fictionalized account of the real-life Fugate family lineage, under a different name. The photos I uploaded are from the article “Blue Fugates: The True Story of Kentucky’s Blue People.” The last photo is one of the last living descendants: Benjamin “Benjy” Stacy, featured in an article from the Daily Mail UK.

A donation of $1 per meetup to cover Meetup.com expenses is suggested.