I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I really enjoyed this book, the plot was interesting and the characters were easy to connect with. Although I now feel like I need to go and read the first book!

The Book Woman’s Daughter is the sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I have to say this book is every bit is good as the first one. This story focuses on Honey Lovett, Cussy Mary’s daughter. Honey is forced to survive on her own when her parents are imprisoned. Being only 16 and underage, she is anxious to find out what the court will decide concerning her care. Meanwhile she is forced to support herself and lands the position of book woman just like her mother had. It’s a riveting and tense story of the extremely hard life the people in this area of Kentucky lived, but especially the blue people. There are some old characters to revisit and some very interesting new ones. I think fans of the first book and new readers as well will both love this one. Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Book Woman's Daughter is such a gripping emotional novel full of heart, hope, determination, and a fair share of injustice as well. I knew right away I needed to read this sequel to the powerful "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" that had me crying and thinking it over for days after I'd finished reading. I'm happy to saw I found the sequel just as compelling. I was certainly glad to see some familiar characters helping her along the way and was downright mad for all the horrible things she had to endure. Just like her momma she maintained her kind heart though. Which is one of my favorite things about this series. If you loved the first book as much as I did, then I definitely recommend you read The Book Woman's Daughter.

This was a great sequel to "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek." While I would have loved to have seen more of the Cussy in it, her daughter's story was compelling and eye-opening. What these women endured!

It's a heart-warming story filled with a sense of community, place and time. Very well-written. I hope the author continues to add stories to this series, as I look forward to revisiting these people and seeing what life brings for Honey and Pearl as they grow up.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kim Michele Richardson and Sourcebooks for a review copy.

This follow up to "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek”, centers around Honey Mary Angeline
Lovett, and her fight for independence after her parents are jailed. Honey, at sixteen year of age, is
not quite old enough to live without a guardian and forces are at work to send her to a horrible work-
house like environment, unless she can find someone to stay with until she’s of age.

Overall, this is a deeply absorbing novel, with well-drawn characters, and as with the previous book,
it is very descriptive, honoring the time and the place.

Kim Michele Richardson's The Book Woman's Daughter did not disappoint. The story was gut wrenching and heartwarming as we follow the footsteps of 16-year old Honey Lovett who has to fend for herself while her parents are unjustly incarcerated. Honey follows Bluet's career path, making a living for herself as a book woman working for the town library. Her courage and strength are inspiring, especially given the times she is living in as a Blue. We said goodbye to some beloved characters and met some wonderful new ones. Some story lines remain open-ended by the end of the book, so perhaps there will be a third novel in the Book Woman series. I would love to find out where life takes Honey and her parents.

I so enjoyed this. It was every bit as good as the first, maybe even a bit better. If you loved Cussy’s story in the first novel you will love Honey even more. It follows the story of Cussy’s 16 year old daughter Honey who has now found herself on her own as her parents are incarcerated for violating the miscegenation laws. It is the 1950’s and she finds herself back in Troublesome Creek all alone and struggling to make a way for herself in an environment full of prejudice against women and blues. She takes a job as a Packhorse Librarian following in her mother’s footsteps. As she supports herself she finds herself meeting new friends and touching many with her books. The author’s beautiful descriptions take you right into the Kentucky Hills and the depth she brings to her characters makes you feel as if you are struggling right there with them. I loved the strong female characters and their relationships. Just like the first novel, this is a very heartwarming read and at times heartbreaking. I hated reading how cruel women and blues were treated. However, Honey is a tough and beautiful soul who you very much root until the end. It was fascinating learning about the early literacy programs, frontier nurses, coal miners, and pack horse librarian projects in the 1950s. The pictures at the end of the book were wonderful.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

If you enjoyed "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" by Kim Michelle Richardson you will enjoy the second installment "The Book Woman's Daughter". This book starts 14 years after the first book with Cussy and her husband being hauled off jail and secretly sending their 16 year old daughter Honey to live with Retta in Troublesome Creek to keep her from being sent to the Children's Reform School where she would have to stay until she's 21. The laws in Kentucky haven't changed much in (or at all!) in the past 14 years which is a problem for Honey but with her quick wit, helpful mountain folk, and a job riding as a packhorse librarian like her mother she is able to live on her own. and survive until change can happen.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book. Recommended!

The book woman's daughter/Kim Michele Richardson. Continues the story begun in her earlier book by following the daughter of the book woman, who is separated from her parents when they are imprisoned. Tells of her fight for her independence aided by other independent women who are her friends. A good story. full of feisty characters.

The Book Woman's Daughter was a great story about a girl named Honey who becomes a packhorse librarian after her parents are sent to prison on bogus charges. She is what they called blue because of her genes and is often discriminated against. She is able to survive on her own through her smarts and with the help of a great cast of characters like Devil John, Peral, and the doctor. It is an interesting peek into what it may have been like in Kentucky way back when. I believe there is another book to go with this one but I have not read that one yet. Anyway, it is a great story and you really come to root for and care about Honey.

Once again, Richardson has shown us the heart-rending situation of the little known Blues in the US. and the prejudice they face on a daily basis.

This is a wonderful sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I didn't realize how much I missed Cussy Mary and the people of Troublesome Creek. Although this book can be read as a stand alone, I felt completely at home with Honey and her situation from the beginning.

Earlier this year I responded to the question, 'What novel would you recommend to any book club?' with The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I hereby amend my answer with its sequel, The Book Woman's Daughter. From exploring themes of racism, misogyny, rural poverty, and violence against women to its uplifting portrayal of sisterhood, the agency and value of women in society, intergenerational caregiving, human-animal bonds, the quest for justice, and the power and transcendence of books and literacy, The Book Woman's Daughter" poignantly captures a moment and place in time while maintaining the timelessness of our most beloved classics. Honey, the titular character, is both Atticus and Scout, while cast by others as Tom and sometimes Boo. Her strength, conviction, courage, resilience, and empathy in the face of ignorance, uncertainty, physical danger, and persecution gives shapes a new kind of archetype for the heroine's journey. A native Kentuckian, Richardson writes with a deep knowledge of and respect for her home state. She elevates its struggles beyond the stereotypes and gives us a story of heartbreak and hope, brutality and beauty, and ultimately faith, freedom, and fulfillment. The friendship of Honey and Pearl, Honey's love and care for animals, the books she delivers, and the archival photos at the end are particular highlights for me. I loved this book and highly recommend it for everyone, especially readers of historical fiction and fans of strong female characters.

I received a digital pre-publication copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and I'll be including it in a TBR round-up for Women's History Month in March. I will also be adding a hardcover edition to my permanent collection upon its May 2022 release.

Was very interested in reading this sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and I enjoyed revisiting the story of the horseback librarians and the blue people. This story is about the adoptive daughter of Cussy Mary and her husband Jackson, Honey Mary Angeline Lovett. Although I enjoyed this sequel, I did not love it as much as the original Book Woman. I did not think the writing was a good as the first book and the story seemed rush.
Kim Michele Richardson included other strong, independent women of the era which was interesting. It was a good story and will recommend to my patrons who enjoyed the first book and like historical fiction,
Thank you NetGalley for providing me an advance copy of this book.

I loved this story. I have not yet read the first volume but felt the Bookwoman's Daughter gave enough exposition to make it very enjoyable as a standalone. Learned a lot about a time and place related to literacy that I knew little of. The author's prose is engaging, very descriptive both of the physical setting of the story as well as of the motivation of all the major characters. Great job of detailing the lives of a rural population from the perspective of literacy within the context of rural values of the time both positive and negative. I would highly recommend this title.

This was a wonderful follow up to the first book as we follow Honey Lovett’s journey of becoming a pack horse librarian like her mother before her.
I don’t want to give too much away but as I read about the prejudice and flaws of the judicial system, I kept thinking that these events only happened 70 years ago and it made me so angry and sad.
With vivid descriptions of the poverty suffered by many along with the harsh terrain covered by Honey and her stubborn mule Junia, the author has brought Kentucky to life and the ending has been left open for a third book to continue the family’s story.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

’They still call her Book Woman, having long forgotten the epithet for her cobalt-blue flesh, though she’s gone now from these hills and hollers, from her loving husband and daughter and endearing Junia, her patrons and their heartaches and yearning for more. But you must know another story, really all the other important stories that swirled around and after her, before they are lost to winters of rotting foliage and sleeping trees, swallowed into the spring hymnals of birdsong rising above carpets of phlox, snakeroot and foxglove. These stories beg to be unspooled from Kentucky’s hardened old hands, to be bound and eternally rooted like the poplar and oak to the everlasting land.’

This story begins in Thousandsticks, Kentucky in 1953, describing the era when air-raid ‘duck-and-cover’ drills were common during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and their respective allies in the time after WWII. It’s early March, as the daughter of the original Book Woman, Honey Mary-Angeline Lovett, is now sixteen years old, looks back on those years, recalling the love and appreciation shown to her mother, and to her as she often accompanied her on her book route.

When a peddler comes to their door, and notices her mother’s blue skin colour, he can’t help but mention it when he gets back to town. Knowing that the law will come to them at any moment, since Miscegenation laws were a tool used to get rid of those people who appeared physically to be ‘different,’ and therefore unwanted and unwelcome. Meanwhile, their daughter Honey is hiding in the cellar when the ‘law’ shows up, and her parents are escorted to prison.

Honey inherited this condition, although it is mostly seen in her hands. When she follows in her mother’s footsteps, delivering books to those living in and around their rural area, or even in town, she feels it’s necessary for her to wear gloves to cover her hands. Most of the people she meets along the way are happy to see her riding her mother’s mule, Junia, and some remember her fondly, from when she accompanied her mother. But there are others who find her to be some kind of abomination, and make sure to let her know that she is not welcome.

I loved the setting, the quiet charm of the Appalachian landscape alongside the quiet strength of these women resolved to fight against the ugliness of laws created out of hate, and designed to target a group of marginalized people. I love the resolve of these women, and the men who had the courage to stand by them, to believe them, and believe in them, despite repercussions. I loved the strength and determination of these women, their bond as women, and, of course, this ode to books, and how the right words and stories can change the world.


Pub Date: 03 May 2022

Many thanks for the ARC provided by SOURCEBOOKS Landmark

The story continues :
As a fan of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, I was delighted to read the continued story of Honey Mary -Angeline Lovett.
Ms. Richardson did not disappoint with her heart wrenching story of Honey's cruel world with its prejudice, poverty, and ugliness.

This book does not disappoint! Kim Michele Richardson has written a sequel to her book, The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek, that grabs your heart and interest from the first page and doesn't let go. She tells the story of Honey Lovett, daughter of Cussy Mary Carter, and weaves their backstory very well into this book. At some point, though, I think you'll want to read the first book to get the full history of the setting and the characters. The Kentucky women are strong, capable, and able to weather whatever comes their way. The Bookwoman's Daughter makes us feel the full range of emotions, from sadness to joy, worry to relief, hate to love. This is a wonderful read!

Historical fiction, at its best, has a compelling story and introduces readers to a part of history we may not have known much about. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek fit the bill, a fascinating story of both the blue people of Kentucky and the pack librarian project. So, when I had the opportunity to get an ARC of The Book Woman’s Daughter, I was really excited to continue the journey. The sequel tells the story of Honey, the daughter of the beloved book woman. Unfortunately, much of the story is a retelling of the original story, as Honey follows in her mother’s footsteps, facing discrimination as a “Kentucky Blue” and delivering books by mule to rural families who wouldn’t otherwise have access to books. There weren’t really any additional historical elements introduced, and Honey’s ‘story’ was predictable, and sadly, didn’t have much substance. I’d categorize this more as a light read than what I was expecting, and unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend this book to readers who are looking for another historical fiction gem like the first book.