I was a huge fan of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson when it came out a few years ago. It was the story of Cussy Mary, a blue-skinned packhorse librarian determined, even in the face of extreme prejudice because of her rare skin color, to bring books and literacy to the folks living in the hills of Kentucky. Cussy Mary captured my heart as well as that of many other readers, so when I heard we were getting another book set in this world that focuses on Cussy Mary’s daughter, I couldn’t get my hands on a copy fast enough. I’m so glad I did too because I loved this book even more than the first!

When we first meet Cussy Mary’s daughter, Honey Mary Angeline Lovett, she is learning firsthand just how cruel and unfair, life can be because her parents have just been arrested and charged with miscegenation. They are each looking at several years in prison and because Honey is only a teenager, the court wants to have her committed to a home until she’s 21 years old. The majority of the story follows Honey as she tries to figure out how she can, first, evade capture by law enforcement, and second, find a way to secure her freedom, a journey that has her following in her mother’s footsteps.

Honey is such an easy character to fall in love with. She’s passionate, quick-witted, resourceful and determined, just like her mother, and she’s also born into the role of an underdog because she has inherited her mother’s blue-tinted skin, although in Honey’s case, the blue is confined to her hands and is easily hidden by gloves. I always love a good underdog story and became immediately invested in Honey’s journey, particularly after she declares that she wants to be emancipated and that a bunch of random powerful men shouldn’t be allowed to determine whether or not she can be free.

I loved Honey and I also loved the assorted cast of characters who stepped up to help her because they loved her mother so much and because they knew Honey’s family had been dealt an unfair hand. They treat Honey like family and it’s wonderful to see. One young man even offers to marry her because he knows that will keep her from being committed, but Honey, even though she is immensely grateful he offered, doesn’t want her freedom to come at the cost of marrying for a reason other than love.

Honey’s story is so compelling and the author also does a wonderful job once again exploring the important role of the packhorse librarians and literacy. In many ways, both Book Woman books are love letters to books and reading, both for education and for escape. If you love books about books and books that feature strong resilient female characters who want to smash the patriarchy, you’ll want to check out The Book Woman’s Daughter.

What a unique slice of history to revisit! THE BOOK WOMAN’S DAUGHTER follows Honey Lovett, the daughter of Cussy Lovett from Kim Michele Richardson’s debut novel THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK. The history of the Blue people of Kentucky and the Pack Horse Librarians in the 1930s is incredibly fascinating and it was fun to be back in this world.

When Cussy and her husband find themselves in trouble with the law due to their interracial marriage, 16 year old Honey is left to her own devices. She must search for independence while staying out from under the nose of law enforcement.

I love reading about women with moxie and this story was no exception. The characters were bold and courageous as they stood up against racism and misogyny. While this story could be read as a standalone novel, reading THE BOOK WOMEN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK will enrich the reading experience.

A big thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

RATING: 4.5/5 stars (rounded up to 5)

After her parents are arrested for miscegenation under Kansas law - her mother is blue and her father is white - Honey Lovett is forced to fend for herself. It isn’t easy for her and she encounters prejudice because she is also a blue (though just in her hands and feet) as well as ignorance and cruelty. Fortunately, she also finds many people to help her along the way and when she takes over her mother’s position of book woman, she and her friends can work together to help bring change.

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson is the sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and it is just as beautiful and beautifully written as the first book. It kept me riveted to the page from first to the last. Although it covers many highly charged emotional issues like prejudice, domestic assault, bullying, and poverty, it never slips into schmaltz or emotional manipulation.

It can be read as a standalone but I recommend anyone who loves intelligent stories should read both. This is one of my favourite books so far this year and is now on my short list of books I know I will read again and again. I would like to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 rounded to 5

"Faith is the bird that feels the light and sing when the dawn is dark... as long as you have the books, you'll always have the light."

wow! what another beautiful and inspirational story about the blue skinned people of Kentucky, the struggles they went through to live a peaceful life and the fight they had in their hearts. I just recent read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and I loved it, but I loved this one even more. Honey saw the heart and fight her mama had and she worked even harder to be brave and stay strong. The fight and spirit she had was so amazing. While this book has ALOT of prejudice, racism and really horrible people, the love and and compassion the community had not only for Honey and her family, but for the books that helped the people come together, really outweighed the bad. It showed a little hope that there are still good people in the world.

"Knowing that the books had not only saved me, her and others, but had given us something even buffer and more precious-- freedom."

Thank you Sourcebook Landmark, Netgalley and Kim Michele Richardson for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Triggers: Medical trauma, Sexism, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Racism

This is an excellent sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I loved learning more about the Women of the Pack Horse Library Project. they were such strong and dedicated women who served an amazing service to the people of Kentucky. The previous book deals with Cussy Mary Carter, while this one covers the life of her daughter, Honey Mary Angeline Lovett. Between being judged for her physical condition of having blue skin, being a woman trying to serve those who live in a remote region of Appalachia, and the ability to survive so many dangers has you cheering her on. Another positive aspect of the book provides information about the women who worked in the mines as well as served as fire lookouts for the forest towers. Their strength and dedication was astonishing. The prejudices they suffered and mistreatment they endured will break your heart and enrage you for all they experienced. Such well-developed characters come alive on the page. I would encourage you to absorb the author’s notes at the end of the book. Important information is shared and the amount of research the author conducted supports the details shared on the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

While this book was well written and well researched. It felt like the author was trying to add a lot of women's first into it well as Kentucky history into one novel. I can understand her wanting to show the power of sisterhood. But this reader finds it hard to believe that a packhorse librarian who is local to area would be friends with the first female fire watcher as well as a frontier nurse midwife. As both these women would have been say as outsiders, though the nurse midwife would be welcome for her medical care. Now one of the first female coal miners and a packhorse librarian being friends is believable as it quite possible as they would have grown up together. I'm not saying it was a bad book I'm just saying it's a little hard for this Kentucky girl to swallow.

Rarely do I love a sequel in the same way I love the original, but this book is an exception to that rule. The story is compelling, empowering, and heartening. Seeing the main character, Honey, overcome adversity while staying true to herself in a traditionally "man's world" is an encouraging story that is sure to inspire. The characters were painted with a delicate brush that made them feel very realistic, neither overdone nor flat, and the small moments written with such tenderness makes this author's writing particularly memorable. Another beautiful book!

Southern master storyteller Kim Richardson wowed us with The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, featuring the driven Cussy Mary Lovett, the blue-skinned Kentucky woman who went on to head up the Pack Horse Library in the 1930s.

She returns with her latest New York Times bestseller follow-up, THE BOOK WOMAN'S DAUGHTER featuring the sixteen-year-old Honey Lovett, the daughter. Honey is just as tenacious as her mom and finds strength in books to help overcome her obstacles in this rural world of injustices.

The parents are imprisoned due to the methemoglobinemia and Honey is left to fend for herself. She is an old soul and is mature for her age. She must find a way to hold on to her independence or be sent away.

When carefully laid plans do not work out due to some evil men, Honey finds a way to take up the traveling librarian job once held by her mother, even riding the same faithful mule, Junia. She also has to convince her lawyer Bob Morgan to represent her in a bid for legal emancipation.

A gripping tale, rich in history, character, literary, and vivid descriptions of the Kentucky landscape. The misogyny and racial prejudice will infuriate you. All the while, you will be rooting for Honey, her family, and these victims.

Brave, fearless, and powerful — readers will enjoy the heroines, sisterhood, mothers/daughters, and the LOVE of books.

Kim is a gifted and talented author who knows Kentucky, the people, and its history like no other. She was born to tell this story, and no one could have penned it with its unique delivery. I am in awe of her craft and passion.

Check out my blog, where you will find all my reviews of Kim's books and these two, an #AuthorElevatorSeries interview where we go behind the scenes of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, where it all began, and more about Kim and her ventures.

THE BOOK WOMAN'S DAUGHTER is a must-read book for every home library! I hope we hear more from Honey and her mom down the road to catch up. Cover Love.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark, the author, and NetGalley for an ARC digital and print signed paperback copy to read, review, and enjoy!

Read my KMR Reviews on my blog and GR:
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek"
The Sisters of Glass Ferry
GodPretty In the Tobacco Field
The Liar's Bench

Blog Review:
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
Pub Date: 05/03/2022

Kim Michele Richardson broke new ground in 2019 with her blockbuster novel, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, which features an oppressed minority in Appalachia. In the early years of the 1900s, and possibly before, tucked into the hills and hollers of rural Kentucky were a small number of people that had blue skin. This first novel featured Cussy Mary Carter, a Blue woman that worked as a pack horse librarian as part of the WPA, a new government agency created by the FDR administration. In this sequel, it is her daughter, Honey Mary Angeline Lovett that joins this organization and in doing so, struggles toward emancipation when her parents are jailed for violating the miscegenation laws existing at the time.

My thanks go to Net Galley and Sourcebooks for the review copy.

When her parents are jailed for having intermarried—with “Blues” considered colored—Honey Lovett is sent to live with Retta, an elderly woman that has been like a grandmother to Honey. Returning to the area where she was born, Honey—who is also Blue, but only on her feet and hands, particularly when she is distressed—collides with many of the same biases and legal obstacles that her mother faced.

This sequel features more women that occupy nontraditional occupations; in her notes, Richardson says that she wanted to “explore themes of sisterhood.” The sentiment is a welcome one to this feminist Boomer; at the same time, it’s important to recognize that until the outbreak of the second world war, women seldom occupied positions with the government (our protagonist, plus her friend Pearl, who works for the Forestry Department as a fire lookout,) and as miners (another woman friend, who is harassed relentlessly.) For there to be three such women inside such a sparsely populated area would have been unusual. That said, I like the character of Pearl a lot, and providing Honey with a friend and peer gives the author more opportunities to flesh out her protagonist.

The novel’s greatest strengths are in the research behind it, the concept—informing readers about the existence and victimization of the Blues—and in the general setting of the time and place. Richardson knows her field.

Once again, I enjoy the return of Junia, the mule that I confess was my favorite character in the last book, as well as Tommy the Rooster, who is new. Another strength is that Honey is depicted in a more even and credible fashion than Cussy Mary, who was too saintly to be entirely believable.

However, I would still like to see some nuance in characters. There is a wide cast of characters here, but every single one is either a good guy—one that never does anything wrong—or a bad guy that never does anything good. This is a failing that would take the novel down, in my eyes, if not for the fact that Richardson has pioneered this particular time, setting, and topic. Even when a novel is primarily driven by setting, as this one is, the main characters need to be rounded out.

This book is for sale now.

I loved The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, so I was excited to see a sequel featuring Cussy’s daughter, Honey. The book starts with Honey facing the devastating news that her parents are being imprisoned for their marriage to each other, illegal because Cussy is a Blue. Honey is facing prison herself as a ward of the state unless officials can be persuaded to let her live with Retta, a grandmother figure to Honey.

Honey navigates life in rural Kentucky without her parents, making the best of it by developing new friendships and getting a job in her mother’s footsteps as an Outreach Librarian for the Pack Horse Library program, delivering library loans to people in the outskirts of Troublesome.

While the first book was more about Cussy’s experience as a librarian, this one touched more on Honey’s experiences as a woman and a Blue in an area and time where neither are treated as equals or even seen as people compared to men.

I would love to see a third book that follows up with Honey so we can see how things go with her parents’ release from prison, her foray into dating, and her sister-like friendship with Pearl. Honey’s story isn’t finished and I’m desperate to read more.

This is a great book and series that captures the reader while also sharing history about that time period and an amazing library project with strong, independent women. I LOVED the real-life photos from that time period that were shared in the author’s note at the end.

I really enjoyed this book. I was fascinated to learn about the program that enabled women to work and to bring reading and literature to so many people that didn't have access to books due to their remote location. I loved the sisterhood that was created through the women doing something truly magical, promoting reading.

This book that follows the first one THE BOOK WOMAN is as good as the first. I have relatives in eastern Kentucky and can understand a little of the discrimination.
The writing was very descriptive. I could picture the mountains and forest-like areas. A mule would be the best or only way to get thru the areas.

4 remarkable stars

The Book Woman’s Daughter lived up to my high expectations after having read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Entertaining and well-researched, it follows the daughter, Honey, in the period from 1936 into the 1950s. At age 16, Honey lives with her ‘nana’ because her parents were put in jail for miscegenation. After her nana dies, Honey struggles to become independent and works as a pack horse librarian to avoid being sent to the Kentucky House of Reform, basically a children’s prison where orphans were forced to work.

The donkey, Junia, becomes a strong character as protector of Honey and adds mischief to the story. Richardson introduces new characters based on real characters - a female fire lookout and a female coal miner. These women not only had tough jobs but faced incredible harassment while working.

The strong writing sings of the south and the plot moves along quickly, building to a court case where Honey sues for her independence. Emotions resonated and tapped strong feelings of injustice.

I loved the photographs at the end of the book and the fascinating author’s notes. A Reading Group Guide is also included.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars
How awesome it was to go back to Troublesome Creek and see how everyone was faring. I liked Honey's story although the pacing seemed a little off sometimes. The characters were interesting enough to pull me through the slower parts of the story. I loved Pearl - and I hope she gets her own book!

I enjoyed The Book Woman of Toublesome Creek so much that I could not have been more pleased to have an ARC of the second book in the series. The Book Woman's Daughter was actually even better than the first book. The book jumps right into Honey Lovell's story and how her parents are taken away to prison for marrying so Honey is left mostly alone to fend for herself. It was so refreshing to read about a young girl who is strong, hard working, and who wants to succeed. Honey was good at finding the people who would help her along and finding friends that she needed. She also was good at avoiding the people who were out to get her, most of the time. This book was a wonderful read that I flew through just to see what would happen next and ultimately how the story would end. I would highly recommend the book!

Both “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek” and Kim Michele Richardson’s sequel“The Book Woman’s Daughter” draw upon the history of the Kentucky Packhorse Librarians who delivered reading material to some of the most remote places in the Appalachian mountains.

We follow Honey Lovett, a delightful character and the daughter of the famed blue-skinned Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Cussy.

Blue skin is an inheritance from the Fugate family who settled in Eastern Kentucky (“the blue Fugates”). The cause is methemoglobinemia, a genetic haemoglobin mutation which renders the blood chocolate brown and the skin blue.

When her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good. Honey’s mother, is subjected to forced sterilization while in prison for violating Kentucky’s anti-miscegenation laws. The American eugenics movement led to this and other atrocities against individuals who were seen as different.

With literacy low in Kentucky, Honey picks up her mother's old packhorse library route and begins to deliver books to the remote “hollers” of Appalachia

Honey wishes to bring the freedom books provide to the families who need it most. She fights for her place and learns the extraordinary women who run the hills
can make all the difference in the world. These are fierce, bright women in a place where poverty is rampant and the landscape unforgiving.

The themes of the book include women’s freedom and independence together with the discrimination they face — ignorance, misogyny, and racism. Then, book-banning, which is incredibly dangerous as it reduces knowledge and education and makes it more likely that people will “toe the party line”.

Kim Michele Richardson is a born storyteller. “The Book Woman’s Daughter” was written to honour packhorse librarians, blue-skinned Kentuckians, female fire tower watchers, travelling nurses and the women of Appalachia.

A huge thank you to @Netgalley and @bookmarked for the ARC.

4.5 stars
In the sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Kim Michele Richardson continues her story of the Blue people of Kentucky and the Pack Horse librarians in the 1930’s. Honey Lovett is Cussy Lovett’s daughter. Their family is in hiding because of the racism surrounding their blue skin color.

When Cussy and her white husband are arrested for inter-racial marriage, Honey risks being sent to an “orphanage”. 16 year old Honey must try to gain her freedom while still staying under the radar of the sheriff and those who don’t want her around. Her first order of business is to try to secure her mom’s library route and provide the education and enlightenment that books can give, if the townsfolk are willing to learn.

This is billed as a stand alone, but the experience will be much richer if you have read the first book already.

If you thought Kim Michele Richardson couldn’t get any better at depicting the beauty of the Appalachian’s through the hardships of its people then you were wrong . She has done it again. Honey Lovett faces some of the same bigotry as her mother and some hate that is all her own. She isn’t alone though she has a mountain sisterhood of women refusing to be knocked down or shut up.

In the sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Cussy Mary's daughter, Honey, finds herself alone at sixteen. Both of her parents have been arrested for interracial marriage. Honey must return to Troublesome Creek and find a way to live on her own and make a living or the mean social worker will send her to the labor prison until she is twenty-one. Honey must take over her mother's old traveling book library route and protect herself in a cruel world.

I really liked the first book and found the real-life historical elements of the Blue people of Kentucky riveting. This one was more of the same, so if you're a fan, it is worth the read. It would also be fine as a stand alone book (you don't absolutely have to read the first one). However, I didn't like this one as much as the first. I know it's a sophomore and sequel book problem, but this one was too slow and uneven for my taste. I did switch to audiobook and enjoyed it a little more (the audio version is good), but in this case, I could have taken or left this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Net Galley and SourceBooks Landmark for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is a great follow up to the first one. It delves deeper into the insidious nature of discrimination against both women and people of color. The story was enjoyable, albeit a bit slow moving. Everything I loved about the first novel, is expanded upon in this one.